40 Weeks
by Dyslexic CSI
Summary: House's return from Mayfield and his changed behaviour towards Cuddy gets to the Dean and she decides to go over to his apartment to ask just what the hell is up with him. What neither of them realise is they're setting out on a life altering journey
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** David, Katie and Fox own them all – I just wish I had figurines of House and Cuddy to play with. HAHA

**A/N:** I know there's still one more chapter to 5 Step Plan, but this thought just would not leave my brain… and so I gave in to the temptation and started to type, and well here's what I came up with. This is just the start to give a little background on what has already happened and to lay the foundation for the next few chapters.

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**Chapter 1**

House grunted with pain as he pushed the door leading to the rooftop open. He could have taken the elevator, but he needed to keep his mind occupied, and there was no better way to do that, than to focus on the blinding white pain in his right thigh – self inflicted – when he had chosen to climb up five flights of stairs to get some much needed fresh air. The cold wind settling on his heated face and aching body was a welcome respite, and he breathed in deeply, filling his lungs to capacity with the nippy winter breeze. He scanned the rooftop and was not surprised to find it deserted as usual, and for that he was grateful. He needed time to process the scene he had just witnessed downstairs and the thoughts that had filled his mind after witnessing the dramatic show his boss and her toy boy had displayed in her office.

He walked out further onto the landing and came to a halt at the side of one of the brick housings for what he assumed were the electrical boxes of the hospital. House placed his palms on the concrete roof of the small house and heaved himself up onto it, settling himself comfortably on the cold, hard slab. His leg was still throbbing painfully and House unconsciously rubbed his hand roughly over his jeans clad thigh, now willing the pain to go away. It would have been so easy for him to make his way down to the hospital pharmacy and ask for a few Vicodin pills and popped two to relived the ache in both his thigh and his heart, but House had not spent almost four months in a freaking mental institution and rehab centre to get over his drug addiction or rid him of his hallucinations only to have him start the entire process again with two measly Vicodin pills. No he would get through this without the help of alcohol or drugs; he was stronger than he believed.

"It's a good thing you didn't get pregnant, because you suck as a mom," the words reverberated through his mind as though it were a mantra as House sat in silence, allowing the cold wind to wash over him. He remembered the that day as though it had happened yesterday; he had, had a crappy few weeks, and while he knew what he said to her would hurt her in the most painful way, House knew there was no way he could take back the words that had already passed through his brain filter and rolled so easily off his tongue. Besides for insulting his boss he had punched Chase in the face, angered Cameron for no reason and almost killed a little girl, all because he wanted to prove a damn point to a freaking cop who was in every essence – a jackass of note. Cuddy had even gone as far as perjuring herself in court in order to protect him and insulting her in the most detrimental way possible was the thanks he gave her.

The diagnostician closed his eyes, and tried to calm his mind, hoping to shut out the thoughts that had already infiltrated his over exhausted brain, but he knew it was already too late when the sound of her voice and the next few words sounded in his head. That was the case he had taken, where the middle aged mother had fought tooth and nail to keep her unborn child alive. The photographer had questioned his every decision, his every treatment, everything he stood for when he had told her that in order for her to live she had to kill her 'foetus', but the woman had refused to even let House near her after that. And that was when Lisa Cuddy had stepped in. The patient had been refusing all treatment House had suggested, just in case it would lead to the death of her unborn child and Cuddy saw no other way to save either the woman or the baby she was desperately fighting to keep alive.

"What would you do, Dr Cuddy, if you were faced with the choice of keeping your unborn baby alive or keeping yourself alive?" House had watched his boss's face carefully for any type of reaction, but he was granted with her Administrator's face, and that didn't give him any insight as to her feelings, though in his heart he knew Cuddy would do the same thing his patient was doing – fighting with every cell in her body to keep her 'foetus' alive even though it was killing her.

Her reply though, surprised him, "if there were anyone I would trust to save my baby, it would be Dr House," Cuddy stated clearly. There was no trace of doubt, or uncertainty in her tone. She really did believe that House would do everything in his power to save her baby, and she made it clear to their patient that House would indeed save her kid. The faith that Cuddy had placed in him had scared him to bits, he was not even sure he could do what she was promising their patient…

This memory was replaced with another that had happened a few months after when House had stuck a pocket knife into a wall socket in his office, simply because he wanted to see if what his patient had said was true, that there was something on the other end. What he had not counted on was rendering himself unconscious and landing himself in the ICU for almost two days. He was shocked to learn that Cuddy had spent those entire two days sitting beside him, holding his hand, waiting for him to wake up, and when he finally showed some signs of regaining consciousness she had bolted away, not ready to face him and tell him what a stupid and careless thing he had done.

Then came the bus accident that had claimed the life of his best friend's girlfriend and ultimately caused the temporary break of their friendship, though it did not feel like something impermanent at the time. They had tried everything to help him remember that it was Amber who was on that bus with him. There was hypnosis, tracing his steps of the previous day hell he had even gone as far as trying deep brain stimulation, in his condition to try and remember. That with the use of drugs to keep him awake and alert had finally caused his heart and brain to overwork and he collapsed. He vaguely remembered Cuddy performing CPR on him, giving him the breath of life – her breath of life to keep him alive…

The arrival of Rachel a few months later had turned his world on its axis, and while House did not say anything to Cuddy, he hated the fact that he now had to fight for Cuddy's attention with a damn two month old kid. Things had changed for the worse as soon as Cuddy had taken the little rug rat home, seeing as she had invited all her close friends for her daughter's Simchat Bat but she had purposely not asked him to come, and while he kept up the appearance that he didn't actually give a damn whether he was invited or not, House was hurt that she didn't want him there. He went home, composed a song in her name and drowned himself a sorrow and a bottle of bourbon, which he knew his liver was not too happy with.

House was almost sure though that the thing that finally pushed her over the edge and was her deciding factor in giving up on him were his hallucinations, though she had no idea what exactly they were about. He had been in pain, gone through the entire detoxification process in his mind, with her at his side every step of the way and she had no idea that he thought of her as his heroine, his saviour, his everything.

Well it was not like he could blame her, she was the one who supported him whenever he needed it, and he had never given a second thought to how she would feel when he didn't give her his all. There was nothing he could have used to convince her to wait for him until he returned, and besides, what right did he have to ask her to put her life on hold while he was away trying to get his life back on track? He sighed tiredly, and as he continued to rub his throbbing thigh, the cold was not helping it at all, but hell it was better to have an aching thigh than a breaking heart, he consoled himself.

He was startled from his somewhat relaxed position on the concrete slab when he felt something warm being pushed into the open palm of his hand that was not massaging his thigh. House turned his head to see a silver cup being handed to him, and the smell of bitterly strong coffee permeating into his nose. Grateful for the little warmth someone had without question offered him, House took the mug and a long swing of the strong, steaming liquid, allowing it to race down his throat, and into his stomach, feeling the warmth as it made its way down. A few more warm sips later, House turned his face to see exactly who it was that had offered him a slight bit of warmth in this cold. To say that he was surprised was an understatement of the week.

Sitting cross legged on a folded hospital blanket a few feet away from him was an incredibly young, dark haired, grey eyed woman with long dark hair cascading down her back. House gave her a thorough once over from head to toe, trying to take in everything about her in just one look, not sure if she would permit him a second glance, just in case she knew who he was and whether she believed all the stories floating around the hospital about him. Guessing from her age House had expected her to be wearing scrubs of some colour, either pink for the student nurses, or light blue for the interns but she was not wearing scrubs at all. She wore a bright orange jersey that fit her snugly, an ironed pair of black formal pants that seemed to simply hang off her hips, accenting her figure all the more, and knee high, flat heeled boots to keep the cold from invading her bones through her feet. Her white lab coat was placed next to her, so as to not get creased as she sat in silence.

Even though he had no intention of talking to her House found the words tumbling out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"You're sitting in my space," he informed her, his tone not as hard as he thought it would be.

"Yeah? I don't see your name on the slab," she replied, humour colouring her voice.

"Someone removed it while I was… away," he whispered not wanting to think of reaction Cuddy would have had when she finally found out he had used spray paint to print his name on the cement roof.

A few minutes of silence passed and when House was sure the woman was not going to start a conversation he found himself talking again.

"You come out here often?" he asked her. He didn't know why he had asked her that question. He figured it would do him some good to know that if he had to come out here more often if he would be bumping into her or not.

Before she could answer him though, her pager went off and House watched as she carefully, though gracefully made her way off the roof to stand on the landing. House held out his hand to give her, her cup back but the woman gently shook her head.

"It's cold out here, you need it more than I do," she informed him and House watched as she quietly made her way back into the building. He also noted that she had left behind the blanket she was sitting on as well as her lab coat for him, and House smiled to himself. Maybe there were people out there who were not simply out to make more miserable than it already was… That was when he realised that he didn't even know her name, but that wouldn't be much of a problem, seeing as she was part of the PPTH staff now.

* * *

Lisa Cuddy groaned at the sight of paperwork littering her desk. It felt as though for every file she had completed and signed off on, four more were put in its place. She had spent the better part of the week doing paperwork and even when she was not looking at her computer screen she could see the numbers swimming in front of her face. She glanced at the clock on her wall and noted it was almost time Rachel to have dinner and settle down for a power nap before her mother got home. Cuddy picked up her phone and started dialling her home number but she stopped in the middle when she saw House walking past her office doors and directly into the clinic.

House had returned from Mayfield almost four months ago, and so far he had not quite managed to tear down the hospital already, she was almost sure he hadn't tried to do it though. Cuddy had fully expected him to start wreaking havoc within the confines of the hospital walls as soon as he got his medical license back but she had not heard so much as a peep from him. She was also quite sure that he had been avoiding her since he had found out about Lucas. Granted, she knew he would not take the news well, but having House avoid her simply because she was in a serious relationship with another man was absurd.

It was not like she could put her life on hold for the four months it had taken for House to detox and recover at Mayfield, and apart from that, she had waited over twenty years for him, and he had not showed any romantic interest in her. Besides, she had not gone out looking for Lucas, he had come to her, they had developed a friendship of sorts and then he had asked her out, and she hadn't looked back since. Looking at him through the double doors of her office, Cuddy could not help the bubble of hurt that rose in her chest. She noticed that his limp was more pronounced now than it was when he had just returned, and she put it down to the stress his leg took now that he walked more without the aid of his cane.

She watched him as he took a patient file from the nurse's station, opened it to read the name on the form, called the patient and then waited for her to make her way to him, before he led her to Exam Room 2. The patient emerged a mere five minutes later, a smile gracing her face and House smiling softly as he handed her a prescription to fill out at the hospital pharmacy. Cuddy's lips automatically turned up in a smile as she watched House's smile grow a little. It was an automatic reaction to his action; it had always been like that. She started with her paperwork once again, hoping that House would at least cause a little trouble in the clinic just so that she could yell at him, challenge him to something, bring back some part of the relationship they shared before he had gone off to Mayfield.

Another two hours passed before Cuddy looked up from the files that were scattered haphazardly across her desk. The sound of her doors opening was what had distracted her and she was about to yell, but stopped when she heard the sweet gurgle of a child. Cuddy looked up to see Lucas standing at her door, holding a beaming Rachel in his arms. She immediately dropped her pen onto her desk and made her way to her daughter, scooping her out of the PI's arms and hugging her to her chest. Rachel, sensing her mother's joy and happiness at seeing her returned the hug and she wound her tiny arms around her mother's neck.

Something outside her office caught her attention and Cuddy looked out the glass doors only to see House staring into her office, his gaze firmly fixed on the little girl currently playing happily in her mother's arms. When she tried to catch his gaze Cuddy saw that he had already turned his attention to another patient in the clinic and was making his way to the empty exam room. She was about to walk out of her office and ask him if he was okay, but stopped two feet before reaching the first of the double doors to her office entrance.

His words sunk into her like lead falling into water and pulling everything it touched with it, and Cuddy gasped as she tried to breathe in lungfuls of air.

"It's a good thing you didn't get pregnant, because you suck as a mother," she remembered the words as though he had said it to her yesterday and Cuddy couldn't stop the tears from making their way to her eyes. She knew he hadn't meant it, he had merely said it because he needed to vent his anger and pain from trying to self detox from the Vicodin because of that jackass Tritter. Still it hadn't hurt any less and it had taken many months before she had finally comet o terms with what he had told her as she sat in the changing room shower, the tears running down her face and the seven year old girl laying limp in her arms.

"Hey are you okay?" she heard Lucas ask her, his voice soft yet hard.

"Yeah, I'm good," she turned to face him, but not before dabbing the corners of her eyes to get rid of the tears that had settled there.

"What did House do now?" Lucas asked, and Cuddy could hear the edge in his voice.

"He didn't do anything Lucas, if anything he's been playing by the rules. And why is it that every time something goes wrong you immediately think it's all House's fault?" she asked him, wanting to know exactly why he kept trying to blame things on House. Cuddy was beginning to feel like Lucas was out to get House, but House was simply not interested in playing any of the games the PI had wanted to lure him into.

He sneered before he started speaking again, "Yeah, that's just like you Lisa, you fight his battles for him or you defend him till the death," he said as he made his way to the sofa in the corner of her office.

"I am not fighting his battles or defending him, Lucas. The truth is that he hasn't done anything to piss me off, or stress me out or keep me at work till odd hours of the morning. Quite frankly I don't see the problem with that, seeing as it leaves me more time to spend with Rachel and you," she informed Lucas hotly, her voice rising with every word.

"Can you tell me, Lisa, if there ever was a day when House didn't upset you or make you cry or frustrate the hell out of you?" he asked her and Cuddy had to suppress a smile at the memories that made its way, unbidden to her mind.

A few weeks after he had told her she'd suck as a mother, House had helped with treating a patient who was on the same flight as they were. They had assumed whatever illness the man was suffering from had been contagious, and that she had contracted it by touching him, but House was the one who had convinced her that it was a simple misunderstanding and that she really was not dying. That had been a huge moment for them, and it had certainly made her day.

Then he had come to comfort her after her adoption of Joy fell through, and while it was not the best of actions he could have taken, Cuddy knew that was the only way he knew how to comfort her in her time of pain and sorrow. Sure he had dismissed the kiss as nothing, but she knew he had filled it with love and emotion and everything he wanted to tell her in words but found it difficult to express to her.

He had also saved her hospital from a lunatic gunman who had entered her office looking for her, but finding House instead. She had never been so terrified in her life, but as usual House had come through with barely a scratch on him and for that Cuddy was thankful.

And finally and most importantly he had gotten her med-school desk out of storage and had it delivered to her office once it had been redone. She had known it was him that had it done because the only two other people who knew about the desk were herself and her mom, and her mother didn't have a clue that she was redoing her office. Those had been small gestures to show his caring and appreciation and Cuddy understood it, because she knew he didn't do well with grand gestures.

"No, I can't," she answered after a long silence and Lucas smiled as though he was expecting that answer.

"I thought as much," Cuddy felt like she wanted to slap him, though she kept her anger in check. Lucas had no idea of the relationship she and House shared, and even though she had made the mistake of revealing House's hallucinations to Lucas Cuddy had no desire to tell him any more about the special friendship she hoped she and House still shared.

"Hey sweetie, are you hungry?" she turned her attention to Rachel after Lucas's phone had begun to ring. Rachel smiled at the sound of her mother's voice and bounced in her arms, just happy to be near her mother. Cuddy pulled out a small tub of yogurt and a teaspoon as settled Rachel down on the floor and then positioned herself next to her daughter, getting ready to give the little spawn a healthy snack.

"Anyway," Lucas started after a short silence, "I'm going to be out of town for work. I'm not sure when I'll be getting back," he continued when he didn't hear her say anything to counter his decision.

"I'll see ya soon Rachel," he said to the toddler seated comfortably on her mother's couch, eagerly waiting for her next spoonful of food before he leaned over Cuddy's shoulder to plant a soft kiss atop her head and waited until Cuddy had turned to face him. If he had been expecting Cuddy to kiss him goodbye, his expectation was dashed when she continued to feed Rachel and only mumbled a hurried goodbye and stay safe to him.

She had no idea what the hell just happened…

* * *

It was just past seven when House gathered up his belongings and made his way out of his office after switching off his computer and IPod. He chanced a look in the direction of Wilson's office, and was not surprised to see the oncologist had already closed up and gone home. With his cane firmly gripped in his right hand, House made the journey to the elevator at the opposite end of the passage. He found that no matter how hard he tried his just could not get the picture of Domestic Bliss in Cuddy's office out of his head. When he had first come back from Mayfield he had hoped Cuddy would still be there for him, not exactly waiting with open arms for him, but available nonetheless. Now though, he knew better, that hoping and dreaming would only lead to disappointment, and that he had lost her forever.

He was so lost in thought he had not realised that he was already making his way through the clinic and toward the exit doors and he bumped into someone as he walked. He looked up, surprised to see Cameron's concerned gaze already assessing his body for any damage, even though House was fine.

"Sorry, didn't see you there," she apologised after making sure he was not hurt in any way.

""Yeah, seems to be the norm these days," he replied, not really angry at her but taking his frustration out on his former employee simply because there was no one else he could take it out on. He noted the confused look on her face, but he didn't bother explaining anything to her, he simply picked up his cane and started walking toward the exit doors.

He felt Cuddy's presence as he made his way out, but he didn't bother to look back at her, she had made her choice and that was something they both were going to have to deal with.

Cuddy finally dropped the pen onto the stack of papers littering her desk and decided that she had, had enough. She neatened her desk somewhat, put all the documents she thought were important into her bag and gathered up her daughter's toys before she picked up her sleeping daughter in her arms and made her way out of her office. She came to an abrupt halt, though, when she saw House standing in the foyer of the hospital talking to Cameron, and she watched interestedly as Cameron looked him over. Cuddy knew Cameron was over House, she had been for a long time and that she was now happily married to Chase, but that did not stop the feeling of jealousy that made its presence known in her chest.

The thought of her being jealous was absurd though, she was with Lucas right? And had everything she wanted, everything she had worked so hard to get. A man who could make her happy, a man who would make a great dad to her kids, a man who would always be there for her… What more could she possibly have asked for, and yet, as she watched House and Cameron exchange a few words she suddenly felt like there was something missing. She felt Rachel move and it spurred her to start walking again, passing Cameron a few minutes later. She was tempted to ask the blonde woman what House had told her, but decided against it – this was a conversation she had to have with House himself in the privacy of either her home or his.

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Please let me know if you guys would like me to continue this fic.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** See chapter 1

**A/N: **SO here's chapter 2. Also, please bear in mind that I have only seen the first three episodes of Season 6 – namely broken, Epic Fail and The Tyrant so whatever I write about is just thumb sucking. I have no idea what actually happens on the show, and if there are similarities, than that is pure coincidence. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter… it was kinda hard to write.

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**Chapter 2**

Two weeks had passed by in a haze and House had not had even a second to think about the scene he had witnessed in Cuddy's office all that time ago. His precious few hours in the hospital had been spent trying to treat and cure his latest patient. Cameron had handed him the file as soon as he had stepped into the hospital ten days ago, and he had taken it without any protest, which had left the ER doctor worried and confused. Sure, she knew he had spent time at Mayfield for his mental breakdown, but she had not realised just how much he had changed until she had had her first real face-to-face with him since his return to the hospital. House, on his part, had kept his comments to himself even though he knew Cameron would appreciate his snark and wit.

House had also kept an eye out, hoping to bump into the woman he had met on the rooftop two weeks ago. He had assumed since she had left behind a white lab coat, she had to one of the doctors working in the same hospital, but the diagnostician had had no luck in finding her. If it were not for the silver coffee mug still laying on his desk, House would have thought he imagined the entire event, as he knew he was capable of doing. He picked up the mug and ran his fingers over it, as though it would give him a clue as to where to find his mystery woman. He had also considered telling Wilson about her, but how could he ask his best friend about a woman he knew he would not recognise if she had to walk right past him. Hell, he didn't even know her name – but even then she had to be somewhere in the vicinity of the hospital.

A few hours later Thirteen came to inform him that his diagnosis of lymphocytosis was indeed correct and that the patient was reacting positively to the medication he had prescribed. House smiled in return and he watched with growing interest as his lackey's smile matched his – there was no way House could be wrong. However, even the knowledge of having correctly diagnosed the patient was not enough to deter his mind from looking for the mysterious, dark-haired, grey eyed woman from the rooftop two weeks ago, and now that he didn't have a life to save, House knew all his time and effort was going to be spent hunting down this woman. With that thought in mind, House grabbed his cane in one hand, his lab coat in the other and limped toward the elevator and ultimately the ground floor where he would start on his clinic hours for the last time that week.

It was an automatic reaction he had as soon as he entered the clinic. House chanced a quick look in the direction of Cuddy's office and was not surprised to see her talking to someone on the phone, a huge smile gracing her red, velvet painted lips and her eyes dancing with laughter. He didn't have to take a second guess at who was on the other end of the line – he knew it was Lucas, that annoying little jackass. What Cuddy had seen in the overgrown kid, House had no idea, but if he made her happy then House decided that was enough for him. There was absolutely no reason he had to try and convince her that House himself was the man for her and then face the rejection he knew would come his way. He was not ready for that. He watched her for a little while longer and then picked up a patient file from the desk and proceeded to call his first clinic patient for the hour.

He didn't realise that he had seen more than double the amount of patients the other two doctors had seen in the same amount of time, and House was only too happy when Nurse Brenda informed him that the clinic was empty and that he could leave if he wanted to, provided it was okay with Cuddy. At first House thought he would go and tell her he was leaving, but there was a flaw in the plan. It meant he actually had to talk to the woman, and House was not willing to talk to her just yet. There were still a few issues he needed to sort out for himself before he could even think about having a conversation with her.

When he finally signed out of the clinic House exited the clinic and once again looked into Cuddy's office. The presence of two men in suits sitting at her desk unnerved him for some reason and he took a minute to look closer at her. Cuddy was twisting a rubber band between her fingers, indicating she was stressed about something and he felt the sudden urge to barge into her office and demand to know just what the hell was going on, but he tamped down the feeling and instead walked toward the elevator that would take him up to his office floor. He changed direction at the last minute though and instead of heading to his office, House decided to pay the X-ray department a visit. He hadn't played a prank on them in a long time and he certainly felt the urge to do something at that point.

Not bothering to check if there was an exam in progress, House simply barged in unannounced and needless to say his untimely arrival caught the interns unawares and he managed to annoy the radiologists in the process. Their reactions amused him, but they did not dissuade him from continuing with his plan. He limped to where the doctors were seated and planted himself on the only seat that was unoccupied, and thus garnering irritated glances from the doctors. He was about to comment on one of the intern's clothes but something caught his attention before a single syllable could roll off his tongue.

The diagnostician looked up through the glass window and after a few minutes squinted his eyes as though it would give him a clearer picture of just who it was, wearing a lead apron and standing in the middle of the room next to the CT machine. He listened intently as the woman spoke to, who he could only assume was a, child on the exam table and he could not help the smile that crawled up to his lips in triumph. He had finally found the woman he had been searching for, for an entire two weeks. While he had not seen her face, he could still say with certainty that she was definitely the kind soul he had met on the rooftop on that chilly night two weeks ago. He had spent an entire fortnight walking around the halls of Princeton Plainsboro looking for the woman only to find she had been hiding right under his nose.

House waited while the Radiologist scanned the little boy's chest and started taking the pictures he wanted to enlarge so he could get a better look at them in a few minutes. It didn't take long before the woman gently guided the kid out of the CT room and safely back into his mother's grasp.

"Dr Wyatt, could you come and have a look at this," House heard one of the interns calling and he turned to look at the older men who were currently seated lazily in their chairs. He was therefore surprised when he saw the grey eyed woman slowly walk toward the intern, with a smile gracing her lips and her hand already outstretched and waiting for the CT scan image. She acknowledged House with the nod of her head and continued on to her inters, and House watched her in amazement. He had guessed she was a doctor, maybe an intern or even a resident doctor, but never in his wildest imagination did he even think that she was a qualified Radiologist – she looked way too young to be one of them.

She was done a few minutes later and House was about to ask her just where she had been hiding when her pager went off. Dr Wyatt pulled the offending piece of plastic and metal off the waistband of her pants, read the flashing message on her screen, and rushed out of the department without a word or a second glance in the direction of her colleagues, but not before she handed him a small piece of paper.

"Well that was interesting," he said to himself as he slowly walked out of the X-ray department and toward the elevator that would eventually lead him to his office.

"And tomorrow is another day," he continued brightly, already planning what he was going to do when he saw her the next time...

* * *

While she had planned on following House to Wilson's apartment to have her talk with him, Cuddy found that she was not in a position to do so at that moment. House was not Rachel's greatest fan and Cuddy's fear that he would reject her daughter without even making an attempt to get to know her roused its ugly head in her mind. Two weeks had passed before she even realised it and she was no where closer to talking to him as he was still successfully managing to avoid her at all costs. She sighed tiredly and started once again on the budget proposal for the expansion of the maternity ward, hoping she would be able to convince the board that they really did need an upgrade for the ward. She was so buried in her work that she didn't hear the knock on her door, and was startled when the phone on her desk began to ring.

She answered on the fifth ring and smiled as soon as she heard his voice. Lucas was calling her just to make sure she had not forgotten to eat lunch, and reminded her to have an energy bar, seeing as she had indeed missed lunch. Lucas talked for a while longer, wanting to keep her on the phone, but Cuddy realised he was distracted by something on his side. She was about to tell him it was fine if he could not talk then and that she would call him later on when she heard the voice. The voice of another woman – to be specific. Cuddy felt the panic rising in her chest and she mentally scolded herself for even thinking that Lucas would cheat on her, but the words she heard next confirmed what she had assumed not even two seconds ago.

"Lucas honey, are you coming back to bed or do I have to come and drag your naked body back here?"

Cuddy didn't even give him a chance to explain himself, or his actions – not that they needed explaining and she slammed the receiver back onto its holder. He had lied to her with a freaking straight face and Cuddy felt the anger rising in her chest at how stupid she was; believing every word that came out of his mouth. The memory of Wilson asking her to be careful of Lucas flooded her mind, and Cuddy remembered her response to his warning.

"I am a big girl Wilson, I can take care of myself, and just because you and House in particular, don't like Lucas, it does not mean he's a bad person. He's not like House, he would never hurt me," her voice had been strong, confident and full of conviction.

She had trusted Lucas, a man she had known for less than a year, trusted him with her hopes and dreams, trusted him with taking care of her daughter, allowing him to form a bond with Rachel, trusted him when he had told her that he was here to stay, over the opinions of her two best friends in the entire world. She knew House for over twenty years and yet she had dismissed what he had told her, simply because she thought he was jealous of Lucas. Cuddy rubbed her hand over her face, not really sure of what to do now. There was no way she could tell Wilson about this, all he would say was that he had warned er but she had not wanted to listen and going to House was clearly out of the question. She saw Cameron walking past the nurse's station with a file and stood up to go and talk to the blonde doctor, but then rethought her decision.

Cameron had not been avoiding Cuddy as House had, but the ER doctor had certainly spent as little time as she could in the other woman's company. At first Cuddy had been angry and irritated that Cameron had actually chosen House's side, seeing that she now no longer worked for House, but then the Dean remembered that Cameron had always had a soft spot for the misanthropic man and that no matter what House did, Cameron would always stand by him. Cuddy also remembered the very short conversation she had seen House and Cameron have two weeks ago, and she sat back down in her seat unsure of what to do now. She just hoped her day would not get any worse.

Her hope was short-lived though when she saw two men in black suits talking to one of the nurse's in the clinic. An uneasy feeling instantly rose in her chest, but she waited until Nurse Brenda had pointed them in the direction of her office. Cuddy kept her gaze focused on the pair as they approached her office and then waited as her assistant informed her of their names and told them that she would see them in a minute. Cuddy was so interested in the two older men that she had failed to notice the kid that had been walking a few steps behind them. It was only when he had taken a seat on her sofa as opposed to the chairs at her desk that she had seen him. He looked oddly familiar to her. Cuddy took in a deep breath, knowing this was going to be a long meeting, before she started talking. A fleeting glance in the direction of the clinic alerted her that House had seen the trio of men enter her office, but he had walked away as soon as she had seen him.

What she had not realised when she had emerged from her office an hour later, with the two suited lawyers and one teenaged boy, was that her entire life was going to come crashing down around her and there was absolutely nothing she could do to stop it from happening. Cuddy looked around the clinic hoping to see either Cameron or Wilson if only to tell them that there was an emergency at home and that she was not going to be returning for the rest of the day… or the week, depending on how she felt in the morning. She heaved in a deep breath, steeled her spine, squared her shoulders and rapidly walked through the clinic and almost made it to the double doors that would take her away from her hospital, but she could not hold back the emotion and instead detoured to the change rooms near the emergency room.

As soon as the door to the room was closed, Cuddy collapsed onto the wooden bench, dropping her bag and files on the floor in the process. It was as though she had no fight left in her. She leaned against the cool tiled wall, allowing her head to fall back and Cuddy felt the tears that had been threatening to fall since almost an hour ago, start rolling down her cheeks. She knew she should have stopped them, lest anyone walked in and saw the Dean of Medicine crying in the bathroom and saw her, but Cuddy just did not have the energy to even wipe them away. The day had taken its toll on her and she felt like it was just the beginning of what was about to come.

Almost twenty minutes passed before the tears subsided but Cuddy was still not ready to walk out of her little place of solace, but there was no way she could remain in the change room forever, she had to go back out and face the world. She gathered her files and bag and arranged them neatly and started to walk toward the door of the room when it was pushed open from thee other side. Cuddy watched as an attractive, young, dark haired, well dressed woman stormed into the room and without warning hit her fist against one of the lockers in rage, making the older woman flinch at the unexpected noise.

As much as she did not want to ask, Cuddy could not stop the words from coming out of her mouth.

"Bad day?" she asked and the woman simply shrugged her shoulders.

"Guess I'm not the only one then," she mumbled to herself, but loud enough that the other woman heard her as well.

When the other woman made no attempt to reply though, Cuddy took it as her cue and gathered her stuff once again and walked briskly toward the exit of the hospital. She wanted to at least make it to her car before she broke down for a second time in an hour.

When she finally reached her car, Cuddy unlocked the doors with the press of a button and sank exhaustedly into the driver's seat, her heart not wanting to obey her mind. She turned the key in the ignition and the engine of her Lexus purred to life. A few minutes later she put the car into gear and started her journey home. She had precious few hours left before her life as she knew it was going to change…

* * *

Three weeks later and the doctor's lounge on the third floor was busier than usual, but that did not deter House and his team from invading it and settling themselves down as though it was theirs alone. House was seated on the sofa in the almost full doctor's lounge, his right leg stretched out before him, while Wilson, Chase and Thirteen were playing foosball on the other side of the room when Cuddy stormed in. From the furious expression on her face, most of the lingering doctors and staff walked out, leaving only House and his team in the fairly large room, though some of them remained behind, if only to see the spectacle they thought the pair were going to make of themselves. Wilson looked up at his boss and then turned his gaze to his best friend, hoping she was not going to try and hurt him again, because he knew House would not be able to deal with it.

House watched as Cuddy stood just inside the doorway, his azure orbs drinking in every inch of her form. Her hands were folded in front, accentuating her chest. Her mouth was drawn in a straight line, her eyes a dark, cold, grey and even though everyone thought she was pissed off beyond belief, House knew better. He could see that she had been crying the fading red in the corners of her eyes a dead giveaway to him.

"Could I have a word with you?" she asked him loud enough for the rest of them to hear as well. House nodded his head and looked up at her expectantly.

"In private, please?" she asked again and even though House knew it was a bad idea, he could not deny her a private audience with her. With a pointed look at his colleagues House sent them out and turned his attention back on Cuddy.

Chase, and Thirteen left with a sigh of relief but Wilson simply glared in Cuddy's direction as he walked past her, making it obvious with just the look on his face that if she hurt him again, there would be hell to pay. She waited until they thought everyone had vacated the room before she made her way over to where House was seated and sat herself down next to him. Cuddy twirled her fingers nervously, not knowing how to start or what to say to him, it had been a trying few months for both of them, and House had simply started avoiding her. Bracing herself, Cuddy heaved in a deep breath and before she knew it, the words were spilling out of her mouth.

"Lucas is cheating on me." The words came out so rapidly and so softly, House thought he had misheard what she had said. When he didn't reply to her statement Cuddy repeated herself, this time talking slowly, allowing the words to sink in.

"And you're telling me this… because?" House asked her gently in return. Cuddy felt a pang of hurt zing up her spine at his indifferent attitude toward her admission. Well, then again she guessed she could not blame him seeing as she was the one who had started severing their relationship for Lucas no less, Lucas - the man who was now happily cheating on her, judging by the woman she had heard on phone when the PI had called her almost a week ago.

She waited a while longer before she started talking again, this time her voice close to breaking down.

"Rachel's biological father stopped by last week." She tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and continued talking. "He wanted her back, and since I've had her for less than a year there was no way I could keep her. My baby is gone House, and there was nothing I could do or say to keep her," by the time she said the last word the tears were rolling down her face leaving black eyeliner trails down her cheeks. House brushed away the urge to wrap his arms around her and comfort her, and instead fixed her with his penetrating gaze.

"I'm sorry," was all he said before he stood up and made slowly limped to the door, but not before giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

Walking away from Cuddy when she was in that position was definitely the most difficult decision House had had to make in recent times, and the fact that she had come to him, and not to Wilson, with this information and heartache only made it harder for him to do so. He hated himself for doing that to her, but he had not spent four months at Mayfield and another few weeks trying to get her to see that he was a changed man only to be dragged down by something like this. Besides, she had chosen Lucas of her own accord, she had made the decision and now she had to deal with it. He was not going to make it his problem…

Cuddy stared wordlessly as she watched House walk away from her. She had not expected that he would pull her into a bear hug and convince her that everything would be okay, but hell, she had definitely not expected him to simply give her a sorrowful look with a one word apology and walk out on her. She felt a new batch of tears threatening to fall from the corners of her eyes, and Cuddy silently stopped then from rolling down her cheeks once again. She had managed to ruin the best relationship she had, had for the past twenty odd years, for one that had not even lasted an entire ten months…

As soon as House entered the apartment he still shared with Wilson, he slowly made his way toward the small piano in the corner of the room, seating himself on the wooden bench. He allowed his fingers to run over the cool black and ivory keys for a few minutes before he began to play. A soft, soulful, heartbreaking tune enveloped the apartment, causing Wilson to step out of his bedroom to come and check on his best friend. He saw House sitting at the piano, his long, artistic fingers gliding effortlessly over the keys, his eyes clenched shut and his breathing slow and heavy. There was something about the music that pulled at his heartstrings and for some reason Wilson looked for the sheet music House was playing from.

He was surprised when he didn't see any pieces of paper in front of the diagnostician, but understanding quickly followed. He didn't need pieces of paper telling him which keys to press, because pieces of paper couldn't show emotions, but House was playing from his heart and the boy wonder oncologist didn't need to guess what had brought this on. He wanted to ask House just what Cuddy had told him, but he held his tongue – as difficult as it was for him to do; House would tell him when he was ready.

Cuddy reached home a little after eight, and walked directly to her bedroom. There was no reason to walk anywhere else in the house as there was no one there, and she had to admit she hated the place. It had once been her place of refuge, her little heaven on earth when her daughter was still with her, but now that her teenaged dad had taken her, Cuddy felt no love for the place. If anything she resented it simply because it held memories of something she had, but would never get again. She had been a fool to think she would finally have the perfect husband, who would be the perfect father for her perfect two point five kids, and live in the perfect home with the perfect white picket fence. Yeah, it was simply too perfect to be true.

She settled herself on the duvet cover, not even bothering to change out of her work clothes and into something more comfortable and curled up into a ball. She felt like she wanted to die, to disappear and wake up in another place altogether where no one would know her and the pain of losing everything she had was gone. She finally fell asleep hours later, dreaming of Rachel and her teddy that went everywhere with the little girl and for some inexplicable reason a blue eyed, scruffy haired diagnostician…

* * *

I hope you guys liked it, and while I planned for this to be light-heated and fun, I guess the muse had a different idea and decided to put angst first. Then again, I suppose when you have House and Cuddy there's bound to be angst before happiness, but happiness will definitely come…

Please leave a review and tell me what you think…


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer**: See chapter 1

**A/N:** So this chapter was even more difficult to write than the last one and as you can see the latest episode I watched was Known Unknowns and as much as I like Cuddy, I wanted to slap the shit out of her. I mean couldn't she pick someone other than that child-loser Lucas. Thankfully he's not a major character in this fic… Anyway here's the next chapter for your reading pleasure. :)

* * *

Chapter III

Two months had passed since Cuddy's admission to House of both; Lucas cheating on her and Rachel's biological father taking the little girl back and except for the one word apology he had given her at the time, House still had not asked her, or anyone else for that matter, how the hospital administrator was doing. The beep of her computer indicated that she had received a new email and broke the spell she was caught up in and she clicked to open up the message. Cuddy felt the tears prickling at the corners of her eyes when she saw the picture of Rachel smiling at the camera, her hands in the air as though she was waving them at her mother. She missed her little girl, and Cuddy was not sure she would ever recover from the separation – still she had to try. At least Rachel's dad was kind enough to send her pictures of the little girl often, though Cuddy was not sure whether it was in her best interest or not.

She wanted to tell Wilson or even House about how wrong she was when she made the decision to choose the rat Lucas over House, but the memory of him walking away from her made its way into her mind and she knew she could not do it. There was no way she would ever be able to deal with House walking away from her, not when she really needed him to be there for her. Cuddy did the next best thing she knew to keep her mind busy from memories of her daughter and her two closest friends and she drowned herself in work, no matter what. She had even been guilty of staying in her office until three 'o clock in the morning pretending to be doing paperwork that needed to be handed to the board later that day.

Her assistant walked into her office three minutes later to remind her about the board meeting that was starting in the next fifteen minutes and Cuddy gathered up all her papers she would need and readied herself for the meeting. She hoped this one would be nothing like the last few, but House had been behaving himself since his practising licence was reinstated and he was rarely a topic at the meetings for at least three of the four months now, and for some reason she did not like it. Cuddy took another ten minutes to read over her notes before she left her office and slowly made her way to the boardroom. She took her usual seat next to Wilson, who she, for a split second, looked concernedly at her before the expression changed to one of indifference.

Cuddy caught Wilson glancing over in her direction a few times and she knew he was taking in her appearance, and would no doubt go directly to his best friend and report everything to House. Sure she had dark circles under her eyes from the lack of sleep and she had lost a few pounds because she had on a few occasions forgotten to eat, so instead of filling out her clothes well, they simply hung off her thin frame. Even her hair had become frizzy and dry and Cuddy knew she had to start doing something to look better, but she found that she simply did not have any reason to. House had given up on her, Rachel was gone and she had kicked the cheating Lucas's ass out on the curb the day he had returned to her with flowers in one hand, a gift in the other and an apology falling from his lips.

Wilson caught her by the arm as they left the boardroom and Cuddy was unsure how to react to him. He had not kept his hostile feelings toward her; regarding her choice of Lucas and the way she had treated House when he had returned from Mayfield a secret, and the fact that he had stopped her of his own accord now puzzled her. After everyone had evacuated the boardroom he began to speak, and Cuddy was grateful that she did not have an audience listening to her.

"Are you okay?" Wilson asked her the concern showing in her voice.

"Yeah, just been a long week," she replied, not really sure what she should have told him. It was not like he was her biggest fan at that moment, and even though she knew he would run directly to House with the news, Cuddy did not feel comfortable telling him what had happened between the PI and herself or her situation with Rachel.

"Do you want to talk about it?" that was Wilson, even though he was pissed off at her, he just could not see her in pain, and he wanted to make her feel better,

"No, its just work related stress, nothing a cup of warm camomile tea and a good night's sleep won't cure," she replied and even to her ears she knew it sounded lame.

"Well, if you do feel the need to talk…" he let the rest of the sentence hang when he saw her twisting her hands nervously and slowly walked away form her and in the direction of the elevator.

Three hours later Cuddy was cooped up in her office still reading through the new proposals the board had handed her for the expansion of the peads ICU. She pressed her fingers to her temples on either side of her head and rubbed the spots, she was getting a headache and she knew if she didn't leave work soon it was going to get worse. Cuddy gathered up her laptop and the files she needed and placed them in her bag, shut off the lights to her office and locked the door before she headed out and home.

By the time she reached her house, her headache had intensified and even though she knew it was because she hadn't eaten the entire day, Cuddy didn't bother getting something to eat. Instead she toed off her shoes and slowly walked to her bedroom, her feet revelling in the plush carpet after strenuous day in heels. After shedding off her work clothes and settling into something more comfortable Cuddy started on the files she had brought home from work. She had barely been at it for an hour when the sound of Rachel's giggling made its way to her mind and Cuddy looked up, expecting to see her daughter sitting before her. She felt the ache in her chest when she realised that it was all just a figment of her imagination and that Rachel was in another place, somewhere very, very far from her mother.

She unconsciously placed the papers and her laptop on the floor and slowly walked to the nursery, taking in the sweet scent it still had. Granted Rachel had been gone for at least five weeks now, but Cuddy had purposely not taken out any of her stuff, she had left the room exactly as it was the day the teenaged boy had come to reclaim his child, hoping that he would bring her daughter back to her. Cuddy leaned against the wall of the room and sank to the floor, holding her knees close to her chest as her body convulsed with sobs. She hadn't even realised she was crying until she had to heave in a deep breath and the pain in her chest increased with each violent sob.

* * *

House had just wrapped up his case and was on his way out of his office when he was stopped by Wilson in the corridor of the fourth floor. The expression on the oncologists face alerted House that he wanted to talk about something serious and House found that as much as he liked Wilson, there was just no way he was going to talk about serious issues on a Friday night, not when he could be out at a bar drinking the night away, or well watching other people drink the night away. Since he had returned from Mayfield House had not drank himself to the point where he needed someone to take him home, or call him a cab, and he definitely did not want to tread down that road again. With this thought in mind he tried to sidestep the younger man, but it was easier thought than done when you walked with the help of a cane.

"I think Cuddy is going through something, do you know what it is?" Wilson said when House finally stopped trying to get away from him.

"And you're telling me this because…? And what makes you think I know about it?" House asked with a bit of an uncaring attitude in his tone causing Wilson to look up at the taller man.

"Because we're her friends, House. Because even though I would love to keep hating her for what she did to you, I simply can't see her suffer any more than she already is. And despite your act of not caring for her, deep down you know you do, House. I assumed she told you about it when the two of you spoke privately in the doctors' lounge," Wilson said as the pair walked to the elevator together.

"Well sorry to burst your bubble, Wilson," House replied, keeping his voice devoid of emotion though his mind was running at warp speed, "but I have no idea what you're talking about and I have no intention of finding out. I'm finally getting my own life sorted out, I don't need someone else's issues weighing me down," he said before he changed direction and headed for the stairs leading to the rooftop, leaving Wilson staring in disbelief at his friend's retreating back.

His mind was running with the information Wilson had shared with him about Cuddy, and if Wilson had noticed the change in their boss House knew it was just a matter of time before the other staff members would start talking about it. When he finally reached the rooftop House was happy to see that it was abandoned which meant that he would at least have a few minutes to himself before someone came looking for him and he was disturbed from his thoughts. House slowly ambled his way to his spot in the middle of the landing and heaved his body onto the cement roofing, only coming to a stop when he was settled comfortably on the roof.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt a warm hand settle on his shoulder, and House turned to see Dr Wyatt standing in front of him, with three hospital sheets and two blankets heaped in her arms and a small bag slung over her right shoulder. Despite wanting to keep his expression serious, House found that he could not stop the smile from breaking out on his face and he held out a hand to help her up. When she was finally settled next to him, both of them now sitting on the slightly warm sheets and the blankets covering them, the gray eyed woman retrieved her steel flask and two mugs from her bag and poured him a mug full of the strong, steaming, bitter, brown liquid, which House gratefully accepted.

"What are you still doing here?" House asked as soon as he had swallowed his first sip of the well appreciated coffee.

"Needed a bit of fresh air, how about you? I thought your patient was cured and you were long gone," she informed him.

"I was actually on my way out when I realised you wouldn't be seeing me for an entire two days and we both know how crabby you get when you don't get your regular dose of House medication," he shot back, his eyes dancing with laughter and his lips turned up in a smile at her reaction.

"Yeah because I suffer from withdrawal symptoms when you're not around," she sarcastically replied, though House heard the humour in her tone.

"You want to talk about it?" she asked after a few minutes passed.

"Nope," there was no reason to talk about Cuddy's issues because he was done with that. She had made her choice and now she had to deal with the consequences and House was not going to invest himself in something he didn't think was going to last anyway.

Another few minutes of silence passed before he started talking again, "Cuddy's having issues and Wilson thinks I should ask her if she needs help with them."

Dr Wyatt nodded her head in understanding, though she didn't say anything, knowing there was more he was going to say. She and House had met on the rooftop more times than either of them thought they would and despite House's policy of keeping his issues to himself, he found that he could not stop himself from talking to Dr Wyatt and that she always seemed to give him a new perspective on whatever it was that was bothering him. He opened his mouth to say something and closed it when he couldn't seem to find the words. He tried again two more times but failed to say anything else and Dr Wyatt took this as her cue to start talking.

"You don't share his view?" she prompted and looked at him to gauge his reaction.

"It's not that I don't share his view, its just that I don't want to invest myself in her when I know all I'm going to get is a kick to face when she's all healed and ready to find a man who will be able to keep her and her daughter happy."

"What makes you think you can't be that man?" she asked him and House snorted at the question.

"Oh come on Alex, its not like you don't know about me and Mayfield or the drug addictions and all that, the hospital is buzzing with the news and how everyone is just waiting for me to screw up," he replied bitterly and the woman nodded her head.

She had heard about House spending time in a mental asylum and having a drug addiction, but that didn't change her view of him. She had spent enough time with him to know that he used his wit and nastiness as a shield to keep his heart protected, to not let anyone in. What she did not understand though was how he could allow society to dictate how he should feel about stuff. What gave them the right to make him feel as though he would never be able to make Cuddy or her daughter happy? That without his knowledge and brilliance as a doctor, he was a nothing?

"That means nothing, House. So you spent a few months in a psych ward, so what? No one is perfect. That does not mean you can't make her happy, her daughter happy or even yourself happy."

She let a few moments of quiet pass as he let the word sink in, knowing he would give though to what she said and only then he would reply.

"Cuddy chose Lucas over me, and she didn't even tell me. I found out quite by mistake when we went for the conference a couple of months back. He was in her hotel room playing with her daughter," he finally admitted.

"She made an error in judgement, are you going to hold that over her head for the rest of her life?" Alex asked him and House knew she had a point. There was only a certain amount of time he could actually stay angry at Cuddy, only a while before he could stop avoiding her altogether and only a while before he would go seeking her out as he usually did. Still it didn't make the hurt any less.

"I guess not," he admitted, "and besides I already think the repercussions of her bad choice caught up with her," he continued

Alex looked at him prompting him to go on.

"Lucas cheated on her and the kid's father arrived from nowhere about five weeks ago and reclaimed the little bugger, so Cuddy has nothing left," he said and even though he thought it would make him happy that she had lost everything that was close to her heart, House found that he was more hurt than ever.

She knew there was no way to soften the blow of the next question but she knew she had to ask it, even if it was just to see where he stood when it came to Cuddy.

"So if Cuddy had to reach out to you for assistance, would you help her or turn your back on her?"

House waited before he answered her, "truthfully I don't know."

"Actually the fact that you delayed answering the question negates your verbal answer. You and now I both know that if she had to come to you asking you for help you would do everything you could to help her, no matter what the two of you went through in the past."

Alex turned to face him and palmed his face as she rubbed his cold, red cheeks with the pads of her thumbs, "Go to her House, she needs you now, because who knows… tomorrow it might just be too late," she told him and House felt the warmth from her transfer to him. There was something about this woman that appealed to him and he realised that he was attracted to her and once he was done saving Cuddy he would see if he could actually have a relationship with the woman sitting next to him.

He nodded his head, got of the roof and walked to the door leading back into the hospital and then he rode his motorcycle directly to Cuddy's home.

* * *

An hour later Cuddy was still rooted to her spot, the silent tears streaming down her face leaving mascara trails running down her pale cheeks. She heard the soft knock on her door but she made no effort to answer it, whoever was on the other side would eventually give up and go away, and well if they needed her urgently they could call her. A few minutes later she heard the door being unlocked and the door pushed open followed by a very familiar three legged walk.

House found Cuddy sitting in Rachel's room, her knees drawn up to her chest and her face streaked with tear stains and his heart shattered into a million pieces. He knew Cuddy had taken both her break up with Lucas and the loss of her daughter very badly, but when he had walked past her front door two minutes ago, he had not expected to see his best friend so broken. She was the stronger one between them, she was the one who always held it together, no matter the circumstances, she was the one who always helped him through his hard times never giving up even when the task seemed impossible but the sight of her in this condition spurred something in House and he knew he had to do something to help her. The only problem was that he had no idea where to start; he was not good at this kind of stuff.

He looked around the room, taking in as much as he could and he was not surprised to see that Cuddy had left it exactly as it was when Rachel was still there. The changing table in the corner of the room was still littered with the little girl's Winnie The Pooh grower and a tiny beanie of the same pattern. Her shoes were lying haphazardly in the centre of the room and some of her plush toys were strewn about the plush carpet and in her cot. It seemed Cuddy had no intention of actually clearing up her daughter's room, or worse House thought, that his boss was actually hanging on to the hope that her little girl would be returned to her. The revelation startled him and as much as he didn't want to get involved in this whole mess of saving Cuddy, House knew he had to do something before she self destructed.

The first thing he needed to do was get her out of Rachel's room and so House walked over to where Cuddy was seated and kneeled before her, ignoring the pain that shot up his thigh as he did so.

"Cuddy," he called softly but she didn't hear him.

The second time he called her, she turned to face him and House saw the defeat reflected in her gray blue orbs. With slow careful movements House cupped her cheeks in his palms and kept face tilted up and her gaze settled on his. He brushed away the tears still cascading down her cheeks and pulled her to him, until she was safely secured in his grasp. He held onto her for what seemed like ages, hoping his action would bring her some comfort. She felt so fragile in his hands that House was scared to hold onto her any tighter, and he was relieved from the task when they both heard the rumble of her empty stomach. House smiled to himself; at least he now had somewhere to start.

The diagnostician led his boss to her kitchen where he sat her down on a stool at the island and began rummaging through her cupboards and her fridge for anything edible. When he found nothing to his liking he pulled out a packet of frozen vegetables from her freezer. He found a few tomatoes in her fridge and decided it was enough for him to work with. While he waited for the vegetables to defrost in the microwave, he set them pan on the stove and stirred the liquidised tomatoes adding a few spices as he continued. Fifteen minutes later he set a steaming bowl of vegetable soup and two slices of toasted bread down on the table in front of Cuddy waiting for her to start eating. When he saw she had no intention of doing so, he gave her an ultimatum; either she was going to finish the soup or he was going to leave and not come back.

Hearing that he was going to walk out, Cuddy broke off a piece of the toasted bread and dipped it into the steaming soup and then into her mouth. The flavours that assaulted her tastebuds were welcome and in no time she had finished the soup, and asked for a second helping. House shot her a quizzical expression, but then remembered Wilson telling him that Cuddy had been skipping lunches with donor and board members and he had to wonder whether she had been eating at all in the last few days. He set the second bowl down and Cuddy managed to only finish a quarter of it when she said she was done, and House did not force her.

"Thank you, House," she whispered and House nodded his head indicating his acknowledgement of her appreciation.

Cuddy watched as House cleared up the mess he had made in her kitchen, admiring the way he worked and a warm feeling settled in her chest. Once he was done House turned to face her and she was unable to escape the yawn that escaped her lips when he looked at her. He slowly guided her from her kitchen to her bedroom and sat her down on her bed.

"You look tired, you should get some sleep," he told her and stood up to make his way out of her bedroom. He could not stand to be in there, the same place where she had given herself to Lucas without a thought of how it would affect House.

"House," he had barely taken five steps when heard her call after him, and he turned to face her once again.

"Please stay," she whispered and while House knew it would break her heart as much as it was breaking his, declined her request.

"I… I can't sleep," the words left her mouth before she could stop them and once she started the rest came tumbling out. "I haven't slept a full night in the last five weeks. Every time I close my eyes I see her, I see my little girl…"

House closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose, knowing this was harder than he thought it was going to be. He walked back to where she was still seated on the bed and sat down next to her, and once again pulled her into his grasp and placed a soft kiss on the top of her head.

"I'll be back in a few minutes," he whispered into her hair. He knew there was no way he could walk away from her now, not when she had reached out to him for help.

House pulled out the airbed he knew Cuddy kept at the bottom of Rachel's closet just in case, blew it up until it was firm enough to lie on and readied it for sleeping. He placed clean sheets and pillows on it as well as a blanket and a duvet just in case it got colder during the night. He then returned to Cuddy and led her to where he had temporarily set up her new sleeping quarters in her daughter's room.

Cuddy sunk down into the airbed and waited for House to follow her actions and once he had she laid herself down pulling the blanket and duvet over her. House settled down next to her, making sure his thigh was comfortable and then pulled her shaking body to his, pressing her back to his chest as he spooned her.

"Don't worry Cuddy, we'll figure it out," he said, though he was not sure if he was trying to convince her or himself of the fact. Cuddy fell asleep ten minutes later, and while House knew this was his chance to slip away, he found that he simply could not walk away from her. No matter what his head told him there was just no way he could leave her to get through this on her own. With that thought running through his head, House fell asleep his heartbeat keeping time with hers.

* * *

Leave a review on your way out please…

Also let me know if you want me to continue or not and please feel free to share any ideas you guys might have for this story...


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **See chapter 1

**A/N: **Sorry for the delayed chapter once again, but I was hot with a bout of writers block. It was pretty hard to get this chapter out, but I did it, hopefully you guys like it. Also thank you to Alix33 who beta-ed this for me on such a short notice.

* * *

Chapter 4

Cuddy turned over on her tummy and stretched her arm out, feeling for the warmth House had given off, and was surprised to find his side of the bed was empty and cold. It meant he had been gone for a while now and she was so deep in sleep that she had not heard as he made his exit from both the makeshift bed and Rachel's room. She ran a hand down her face, wiping the remnants of sleep away and sat up readying herself to face the day. The hospital administrator had slept better last night than she had in weeks and she felt ready to take on whatever came her way. Cuddy heaved in a deep breath and stood up from the low mattress before slowly making her way to her bathroom to start her day.

After a quick shower, she chose her attire for the day settling on a dark grey pinstriped pant suit with a silver grey crisp shirt that accentuated her eyes well. She applied a light layer of make up and eyeliner, highlighting her blue grey orbs even more and when she was finally happy with the result she stepped out of her bedroom and walked slowly to the kitchen. As she entered she noted the mug of coffee on the counter and picked it up ready to take a sip from it, even though she knew it was long cold. Cuddy retrieved a bowl from the cupboard and dished a serving of cereal as well as cut up strawberries and added milk before she started. She felt as though she hadn't eaten in ages and Cuddy enjoyed the taste of the fresh strawberries and cereal even more than usual.

She grabbed her bag on her way out, noting that House had cleared up all the papers that had been strewn about in her room and placed them neatly in her bag so that he would not have to look for them in the morning. As she neared her front door, Cuddy saw the pink post it stuck on the wooden panel.

"Sorry had to go, Chase found me a patient. Didn't want to wake you," Cuddy smiled as she made out his untidy writing, and then her smile turned into a frown.

House never left her notes explaining either his behaviour or his whereabouts but this was… different. He was a changed person. She had seen the change in him when he had returned from Mayfield but she had been so focused on Lucas that she had denied House had actually taken the effort to change. Wilson had also tried telling her that House was not the same miserable ass he was before Mayfield but she had refused to believe him too and now she knew she had made a mistake by not believing them. She shook her head and then headed out the door toward her car which was parked in the driveway. She arrived at work ten minutes later, full of energy and a new hope that House had given her, when he told her that they would figure something out.

The Dean hoped he would help her get her daughter Rachel back, even though she knew it was a long shot. She also hoped that House would see that no matter what she said and what happened between them, she needed him more than he needed her. With that thought she started on the budget proposals she had been reading the previous night and began making notes on what she thought they needed and what she knew was a waste of money. Cuddy was at it for almost three hours when she was disturbed by a knock on her doors. She looked up to see Wilson standing on the other side, holding a few files in one hand and something in the other that was covered by the blue and white folders.

Her instant reaction was to put her guard up upon seeing him. While she was aware that Wilson was her friend, she was also very aware that if he had to choose sides, he would undoubtedly choose House's side seeing as they had been best friends forever. She recalled the day Wilson had stopped to ask her how she was doing after the Board Meeting a few weeks ago, and she knew he had gone running straight to House, which she was grateful for, but she knew she still had to be careful with them. Their friendship had taken a strain in the last few months and she didn't want to do anything more that would further distort it. She nodded her head before giving him permission to enter and he walked into her office, a small smile on his lips.

"Dr Cuddy," he greeted and Cuddy flinched slightly at the greeting. He had been addressing her as Dr Cuddy for a few months now, but Cuddy still hadn't gotten used to it. He made it sound so formal, so professional - it was as though they were never friends; they didn't even share a relationship past employer and employee.

"I need you to sign off on these patient files please," he continued even though he noticed the way she winced when he addressed her as Dr Cuddy, not wanting her to see that it bothered him too.

"And then if you have time, you could help yourself to a small lunch," this time he smiled as he placed the small round container on her desk causing her to look at him as though he was insane.

"Oh I didn't bring this in, it was a delivery for you and since I was already on my way in, I told the nurse I'd drop it off," he explained when he saw the confused look on her face.

"Thank you," she acknowledged his offer and set back to work, as she watched Wilson leaving her office.

Once she had finished with the folders was looking at, Cuddy pulled the container toward her and opened it. Inside it was a small serving of green salad with feta cheese, and a larger portion of pasta in a tomato base. It smelled delicious and Cuddy was sure it tasted as good as it smelled. She poked a fork into the penne pasta and stirred the mixture, noticing the peppadews, mushrooms as well as red, yellow and green peppers. One bite was all it took and Cuddy was hooked. While she was still eating she wondered whether House had Wilson send her food or whether the oncologist had done so of his own accord, but either way, Cuddy was grateful for it.

Cuddy was almost done for the day when the phone on her desk began to ring, and she debated on whether to answer it or not. She looked up to see why her assistant had not screened the call first, and she told herself she should have known better when she did not see the younger woman sitting at her desk. The Dean finally settled on answering it thinking it could be a donor or a board member who wanted to talk to her about something important, and also because it meant she got to stay at work a little while longer. Being at work longer meant spending less time alone in her now too big home and Cuddy didn't want to go home just yet. She answered on the third ring, "Dr Cuddy."

There was no answer and she tried twice more before deciding to hang up. The sound of someone clearing their throat caught her attention and Cuddy lifted the receiver back to her ear.

"Hello?" she spoke into the mouthpiece again and this time was rewarded with a shy "hi," from whoever was on the other end of the line.

"Um, I'm sorry, I was wondering if you could help me," she heard the man say and Cuddy listened as he spoke, "I'm looking for a Dr Alexander Reid and I was told to hold while they put me through.

Cuddy pulled the phone away from her ear and looked into it, somehow thinking that the man on the other end would notice her look of pure confusion.

"I'm afraid they put you through to the wrong extension, Mr?" she asked and then waited for his response.

"It's Mr Joshua Tyler," he filled in the gap.

"I am Dr Cuddy and I'm sorry but I don't know the extension to Dr Reid's office. If you're in the area though, you can stop by tomorrow morning and I will be glad to be of any assistance to you," she told Mr Tyler.

She spoke to him for a few minutes longer and they decided on a time to meet the next morning and go to see Dr Reid together. An automatic smile made its way to her mouth after Cuddy hung up the phone. There was something about the Joshua's voice that had her spellbound and even though she knew it was too soon for a relationship after what had happened between her and Lucas, there was no reason she and Josh couldn't be friends, was there? It was not like she had already decided that she was going to marry the guy, it was simply a meeting, she was helping someone find a doctor; it was part of her job.

The hospital administrator left her hospital a few minutes later, a smile plastered across her lips and a new hope in her heart. Suddenly the world didn't look as dark and dreary as it did for the past few weeks and Cuddy liked that. She was amazed at how just spending one night with House had changed her perspective on everything. Her life was about to change in ways she hadn't even thought of…

* * *

House paced the length of his balcony, the memory of the previous night making its way in full force into his head. He had told Wilson that he was done saving Cuddy; she had made her choice when she had rejected him and made Lucas a part of her and Rachel's life, and while it was not what he wanted to hear, House had made his peace with it and had decided to move only problem was that despite what his head said, in his heart he knew that even though Cuddy would not ask him for help, he would always be there for her no matter what. He would always go running to save her, not thinking of the consequences that would come later. He was so deep in thought he did not see Wilson walk up to the wall that separated the two office balconies.

He had left her house just after five that morning, trying his best not to wake her as he did. He knew it was the coward's way out, but there was no way he was going to face her when she woke up. He had come to comfort a friend in need and that was it, he didn't need her thinking that there was any more to what he had done for her, and he sure as hell didn't want her to assume that everything was okay between them because it certainly was not. He just did not want Wilson coming running to him the next day with the same story that Cuddy needed help and that House was the only person who could do so.

"Want to tell me what's bothering you?" the oncologist asked and House looked at his friend as though he had just grown another head.

"Nope," he replied, knowing the one word answer would not satisfy his friend's curiosity but he refused to say anything more.

"Cuddy looks better today," Wilson mused loudly hoping it would prompt House into telling him something but the diagnostician remained quiet, lost in thought.

The oncologist was about to ask another question when his pager went off and House was grateful for the distraction. He didn't want to tell Wilson about what had happened last night with Cuddy, how it had shattered his heart to find her the way he did, how it felt when she held onto him as though she were clinging onto the last vestiges of her life itself. He was thinking of going to check on Cuddy when he saw Cameron walk into his office, a mutinous look on her face. From what he could guess and if he was right, Chase had finally told her about the Dibala case and clearly the blonde ER doctor was furious.

A painful twenty minutes later, to the diagnostician's surprise, he found that Cameron blamed him for Dibala's death, though he could not understand why. He had not even been a part of the team when they had been treating the dictator a few months ago. Sure, a few weeks after it had happened and him observing Chase, he had figured out what happened, but he had not said anything. Hell he probably would have done the same thing had he been in the younger doctor's position, but he was not, and he didn't see the reason for Cameron holding him responsible for Chase killing Dibala. Dibala had threatened to hurt Cameron as soon as he was healthy enough to do so, and Chase had taken action against the threat, any normal husband would have, why couldn't Cameron see that. When she was finally done giving him the third degree, House found that he needed to clear his head so he headed to the one place he knew no one would dare come looking for him.

When he finally stepped out onto the rooftop, House breathed in the cold, harsh air, revelling in the sting it caused in his lungs. He hobbled his way over to his usual spot and heaved himself onto the concrete slab. The peace and silence allowed him to think about what Cameron had told him, and soon enough he began to doubt himself and everything he had taught his fellows. Sure he was crazy and neurotic and thought out of the box, but he had not stood over Chase with a gun pointed to his head, threatening him to kill the dictator or be killed as Cameron had put it. He had simply taught them to push until there was nothing left, to never give up, because there was always a solution to every problem, even when it didn't seem like it.

"Wow! I can see the smoke coming out of your ears with the way your brain is working," House was pulled out of his thought when he heard her voice, and despite his foul mood, a small smile made its way to his lips.

Alex smiled as she walked up to where he was seated and stopped when he was standing directly in front of him, her grey eyes dancing with mirth. House wondered what it was about this woman that made him feel so comfortable, so relaxed, and so easy in his own skin. He was not one for talking to strangers, though she was hardly a stranger anymore, but he had never felt this comfortable in a long time. She was like a breath of fresh air on his mundane, unexciting personal life. She somehow made everything look brighter from where he stood, and he liked that about her.

"Yeah it's one of the disadvantages of being brilliant," he shot back, though there was no bite in his tone and his smile matched hers.

"How did last night go?" Alex questioned after a little while.

"We slept together," he blurted out, just wanting to see her reaction, but not happy when Alex's expression remained unchanged.

"Yeah like she'd allow you to jump her after having just come out of a relationship… I don't think so," she replied.

"Okay honestly, I don't know. Cuddy was a mess, I think she's hit rock bottom and she just needs a hand to help her up," he answered after a while. "I think she's okay with Lucas leaving, but she's still hoping she'll be able to get her daughter back," he admitted and Alex nodded her head.

"Do you think she'll be able to get Rachel back?" Alex asked, even though she knew the chances were slim to none at best, not unless they could prove that the child's biological father was doing a real screw-up of a job raising her, and since they hadn't heard anything Alex was unsure.

House simply shrugged his shoulders, not wanting to actually say no, because admitting it to himself meant that he would eventually have to convince Cuddy that there was no way she would be able to get Rachel back and they thought of Cuddy going down that road again seemed to painful. Neither of them would survive it. The sound of House's stomach rumbling caught them both off guard and Alex grinned at his embarrassed expression.

"What? I get hungry, I'm a growing man," he said and started lowering himself off the concrete slab, with Alex eying him confusedly.

"Well seeing as I'm hungry and you're starting to turn blue, I suggest we go to a place where you can warm up and I can get something to eat," he informed her as he grabbed a hold of his cane and started walking toward the door that would lead them back into the warmth of the hospital building. Alex followed a few feet behind him, shaking her head at his childish reaction toward her.

* * *

They were seated in one of the quieter restaurants near the hospital which House had chosen, claiming that he needed to be near just in case his patient of the week crashed and he needed to go rushing in. A waiter had already taken their orders and House was surprised to find that neither he nor Alex drank, and so he had ordered still waters for the both of them. He had stopped drinking when he had left Mayfield, simply because he had no desire to go there again, as a patient or anything else. His four month stint had cost him too much already and he was damned if he was going to put himself back there just because he could not handle a drinking problem. Alex didn't offer any reason why she stayed away from the booze, it was just a decision she had made a long time ago.

Twenty minutes later their food arrived and House dug into his without even waiting for her to at least pick up her cutlery. She watched as he cut up his chicken breast into small pieces before dipping it into the small bowl of sauce that had come with it. They ate mostly in silence, House sometimes looking up at her only to see her toying with her pasta. When she finally caught him looking at her with a questioning glance, she offered him a bite, to which he quickly pulled his face in mock horror.

"I'm allergic to vegetables," he told her and Alex did a double take just to make sure he was joking.

"You are such a bad liar, House," she replied after she saw his eyes crinkle and the beginnings of a smile on his lips.

"What is it with you people and your aversion to meat?" he asked, his voice and expression both serious.

"What do you mean and who are you people? " she answered with a question, causing House to look at her as though she were a bit slow on the uptake.

"You and Cuddy, she's vegetarian too," he said without thinking and Alex filed that information away for future reference.

"I'm not sure about Cuddy, but I just don't like it, I prefer the green stuff, it's easier on the intestines," she smiled at him and House wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"Remind me never to never steal lunch from you," he finally replied, his tone was extremely serious, but his eyes were dancing with laughter.

"So… What's the deal with you and Cuddy," Alex finally asked and House set his cutlery down before glaring at her.

The dark-hairedwoman barely flinched as she levelled him with a glare of his own and when House blinked first because of his watering eyes, Alex smiled in triumph.

"Lesson one House, never start a fight, or in this case a contest unless you're damn sure you're going to win," she offered him a grin and turned her attention to her pasta once again.

"We're just friends," he mumbled after a long silence.

"Yeah, just friends, with a lot of history," Alex retorted, emphasising the words friends and history.

House was a little surprised at what Alex had picked up with his relationship with Cuddy so far. Granted, the hospital administrator always came up in their conversations, but there had never been a discussion that had been fully focused on the blue eyed woman and House was amazed to find that Alex had fitted the pieces together on such a short time. They had only known each other for four months, and yet there was not much she didn't know.

"We attended the same college, I was a med student - a legend by the time I met her and she was an undergrad with a lot of potential. We hooked up, but it didn't go anywhere and well that was the end of it," he said as though it was nothing, but Alex didn't miss the tightening of his jaw as he said out the last few words.

"If that was the end of it, how is it that you're working for her?" Alex probed, not actually sure she was going to get an answer, but she thought it was worth a shot to ask anyway.

"No one else would hire me," he said and Alex noted his tone meant that the topic was now closed for discussion.

With the nod of her head, Alex called for their waiter and he arrived a few seconds later to clean up their dinner dishes. Before House could ask to see the dessert menu she asked thegood-looking, though extremely young boy to bring them the bill as well. He was about to start protesting when she suggested that she knew a place that served better range of dessert than the restaurant they were currently at. The diagnostician finally relented and waited as she put a few bills into the leather casing that held the slip of paper and then followed her out of the eating house.

Alex walked slowly so that even with his cane, House could keep up with her. She turned to face him and was humoured when she saw the scowl on his face, and heard him muttering under his breath something about not having any sympathy for cripples.

She kept walking anyway, but slowed her pace until she was in line with him and placed a hand on his. House stopped walking as a result of her actions and turned to look at her, but Alex had already turned her attention back to the road. Alex finally came to a stop in front of a small coffee shop that was hidden between two bigger shops. She walked in and greeted the young woman standing behind the counter with a warm smile, which House did not miss.

"Two of the usual?" the young woman asked and Alex shook her head.

"I think we'll try something new today, Ashley" she informed the girl and then proceeded to look at the menu that the younger woman had handed to her over the counter. House stood against the wall of the small shop, taking in the scene before him. While he knew Alex was an easy person to get along with he hadn't thought that she would know the name of the girl selling her coffee every morning. It seemed like such a trivial thing, but he noted the way Ashley smiled and responded when she was addressed by her name and not just by 'excuse me'. Ashley gave them a few minutes to decide but House merely said he would have whatever Alex was having.

Five minutes later they walked out of the warm coffee shop with two extra large cappuccinos; one with cream for House and one with froth for Alex. A few sips and House had to admit that it was the best cappuccino he had tasted in a long time, causing Alex to grin madly at him.

"Hey, if your leg is okay with it there's something I'd like you to see," Alex said after a while. They were already halfwayback to the hospital and House figured it wouldn't hurt to see what she had to show him. House nodded his head in acknowledgement and Alex placed her hand in his, linking their fingers as she lead him to one of the university's taller buildings. They entered the dark building through the side door and House had to blink a few times before his eyes adjusted to the darkness. With one hand still holding his coffee cup and the other now linked with Alex's, he followed her until they came to the elevator and stepped into the silver metal box. They exited the cart when the doors swished open on the top floor and Alex lead House to the door that would take them to the roof of the building.

House looked down at the sight before him and he was taken aback at the scene staring back at him. Down below there were lights of different colours, spread out in every direction as far as the eye could see. He had also thought he would hear the bustle of the busy streets, but from where he now stood, the only thing House could hear was the beating of his own heart and the slight wind that had started up.

"Doesn't have the same effect from PPTH does it?" he felt Alex behind him before he heard her and shook his head in answer to her question. "And just by the way… this is my spot, as you can see my name had been here for a while now," Alex pointed out her name that had been spray painted onto the wall and House merely raised an eyebrow at her. "In your case I'm willing to share the space though, seeing that you're so nice to me," she continued until she saw a full smile settle on his lips.

"Aren't you going to come and enjoy the view?" he asked her but she shook her head.

"No this one is all yours," she told him.

"Oh come on… I can share… just this once," he used the line on her and held out his hand in her direction.

Alex found that she could not resist him and she stood up and slowly walked to where he was standing. They stood in silence admiring the view and when shivered House instinctively put an arm around her waist and pulled her into him. At the feel of his hand on her, Alex turned to face him, but found that was not one of them best moves as she was now pressed up against his chest and she could feel his breath cascading down her neck. She looked up and found that House's gaze was locked on hers.

He felt a shiver run up his spine, and a tingling in his fingers where they met her skin. He wondered what it would be like if he had to kiss her, but he quickly disposed of the idea. He didn't even know if she was in a relationship – he hadn't bothered to ask her anything about herself when they had been having dinner and now he thought he should have. Then he did what he usually did, he relied on his gut to guide him and his gut was telling him to kiss her. He lowered his head slightly but stopped when he heard her voice.

"House, you and Cuddy…" she began but he cut her off mid sentence, "are not in a relationship," he informed her while he kept his arms securely around her waist. He felt as she lifted her arms from her side and placed them flat on his chest, and House felt his heart rate speed up with the action. He could hear the blood pounding in his ears and he felt his heart thumping against his ribcage and his eyes closed involuntarily as he leaned down further to kiss her…

* * *

Thanks for reading, and feel free to let me know what you guys think.

There are two ways in which this fic could go, but I'm just not sure which one will be the better one.

Please sound off and let me know.

New ideas are also welcome….

Thanks D CSI


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **See chapter 1

**A/N:** Sorry for getting this to you so late but real life kinda got in the way, and I realised I am going to be pretty busy for the next three weeks and I didn't want to leave you guys for so long. I also watched the episode 5 to 9 this week (only aired in my country this week) and I have to say I know love Lisa Edelstein more than I ever have before. She is so kick ass. Also when I started writing Alex I had the image of Angie Harmon (from Womens' Murder Club and Law and Order) in my head so you can imagine its her. And the role of Joshua is being played by the ever sexy Rob Lowe... whom I've taken a real liking too.  
**  
Also just wanted to mention the line breaks indicate time has passed between the chapters... so its not necessarily the next day unless stated.**

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Chapter 5

With his heart thudding in his chest, and the blood pounding in his ears, House leaned down further to kiss the woman who was still trapped in his embrace. He hadn't felt like this in a long time, not since he had shared his first kiss with Cuddy when they were still in med school and for some reason House liked the feeling of doing something spontaneous, doing something without thinking about the repercussions that would come if it did not work out. His skin was tingling and his nerves were excited by the mere thought of feeling her lips on his. He could feel Alex's warm breath on his neck and it only intensified his want to kiss her.

The fervid spell was broken a few minutes later though, when Alex's phone began to ring loudly, and the grey eyed woman pushed him away gently before she answered the offending piece of technology. Dr Wyatt knew House's attention was fully focused on her and he would not miss the way her spine straightened as she continued her conversation with whoever it was on the other end of the line. After a short, tense conversation she turned back to face him and House knew by the expression on her face that he was not going to get his kiss tonight and the thought disappointed him.

"I… I need to go, something's come up," she told him and House merely nodded his head. There was nothing he could do to get their precious few minutes back.

He waited as Alex gathered their now empty cups and the pair made their way back into the building and down the elevator, neither of them saying a word. They walked back to the hospital in tensed silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts and both of them wondering what would have happened had they not been interrupted by whoever it was that had called Alex. Once they reached the glass entrance doors to the hospital, House walked off without wishing her good night and Alex knew he was slightly upset and slightly angry at her, but there was nothing she could say or do change the fact that she was needed somewhere else…

A week had passed by quickly and Cuddy had been so busy with the new student nurses' personnel files that she had forgotten about her meeting with the intriguing sounding Joshua Tyler. It was only when her assistant called her to ask her if she was available to see someone without an appointment that she remembered she had said she would show him around her hospital and help him look for his missing doctor.

"Dr Cuddy, there's a Mr Joshua Tyler here to see you. Should I send him in?" Cuddy heard her assistant's voice coming through the receiver.

"Yes Diane, you can send him in, in a few minutes. I have four more files to sign off on," Cuddy replied, running a hand through her hair, and getting up from her seat to make her way to her private bathroom to freshen up for her meeting.

Four precise minutes later she heard the doors to her office open and Cuddy looked up to see her assistant entering her office with a good looking gentleman behind her, his lips set in a warm smile as he followed the younger woman into the large office.

"Thank you Diane," Cuddy said and waited for her assistant to exit the office and close the door behind her before she began to speak.

The Dean remained seated and motioned for her visitor to have a seat as well, as she waited for him to start talking, but for the moment he seemed incapable of doing so. His gaze was focused intently on her and Cuddy, for a moment, wondered if there was something on her face, or if her eyeliner or lipstick had smudged making her look less than presentable, but she knew it was a stupid fear as she had freshened up before allowing Diane to let the man in.

"Hi I'm Dr Cuddy," she held out her hand to him, but Joshua didn't seem very interested in taking it, he was still too preoccupied with staring at her, and for some reason that made Cuddy feel nervous.

"Mr Tyler," she said once more, this time slightly louder and it seemed to do the trick as Joshua was brought out of his thoughts.

"I'm sorry, I'm Joshua Tyler," this time he held his hand out and Cuddy took it, engaging in a quick handshake.

"Lisa Cuddy," Cuddy repeated and this time she grinned at the look on Joshua's face.

"You're The Dean of Medicine?" he wanted to know, still a bit flabbergasted.

"Not what you expected?" she wanted to know, a small smile creeping to her face.

"No, not at all," Joshua admitted, "It's just… actually I was expecting someone… older," he continued, not able to meet her gaze.

"I could ask Nurse Brenda, the head nurse in the ER, to take you around," Cuddy offered lightly but Joshua shook his head.

"Did you manage to find Dr Reid?" Joshua asked after a few seconds of silence, and Cuddy realised that she had actually forgotten about looking for the doctor in question.

"No, I haven't yet," she admitted, "it's been a rough week and I have to admit it completely slipped my mind," she continued when he didn't say anything. "I could look for him on the database though" she offered.

"Her," Joshua said and for a moment Cuddy was confused.

"Dr Reid, is a female doctor, she's a…" but he stopped there. It seemed he didn't know her speciality.

"I'm not sure what she specialised in actually, when I knew her she was thinking of paediatrics, but she could have changed her mind, I'm not sure," he continued as Cuddy typed in the details.

"We have a Dr Reed in Ophthalmology," Cuddy offered hopefully but Joshua shook his head. No it didn't sound like the person he was looking for. And besides that, Josh had never heard her talking about ophthalmology before so no that would definitely not have been her.

"Is it okay if I just looked for her the old fashioned way?" Joshua asked and the Hospital Administrator in her came out as soon as she heard the words.

"I would be glad to give you a tour of the hospital, that way you won't get lost and you can use it as an excuse to look for her at the same time," she offered and Joshua considered her proposal and then nodded his head in acceptance.

Cuddy had just stood up from her seat when her tummy began to rumble loudly, causing Joshua to look at her in confusion before he allowed a tiny smile to break out on his face.

"I tell you what, you can give me a tour of your hospital and help me look for my friend after I take you out for lunch," he said.

Cuddy was about to protest but Joshua beat her to it, "I wouldn't want to have the Dean of Medicine collapsing as she showed me around her own hospital," and Cuddy had to admit the man had a point. Plus it would have been embarrassing if she actually had fainted while giving him a tour.

"We could grab something at the hospital cafeteria," he offered and Cuddy nodded her head.

She grabbed her purse from her bag and headed out of her office with Joshua two feet ahead of her and they both made their way past the clinic and toward the cafeteria. The walk had never seemed as long as it had that day and Cuddy felt as though the entire hospital was focused on her as Joshua walked at her side. Some of the nurses were whispering their thoughts while others didn't bother hiding the fact that they were actually talking about their boss and speculating on whether Lucas knew that she was seeing other people at work. She could already sense the rumours that were going to be making their rounds by the end of the day, and it made her want to retreat to the confines of her office once more and escape the evil of the outer world.

They finally made it to the cafeteria and after selecting their lunches and paying for it, Cuddy chose a booth at the far end of the room where she hoped she would get the privacy she wanted and needed. Thankfully Brenda had seen the uncomfortable look on her superior's face and had made the decision to get their lunches delivered to the Dean's office where Cuddy and her friend could eat in peace, without the hospital staff examining her every move and eavesdropping on her conversations.

After a quick lunch Cuddy gave Joshua a tour of the hospital, hoping they would find the doctor he was looking for, but they were left disappointed when they did not. Joshua was, however, impressed with the hospital and he wanted to get to know more about the research they were doing in regards to incurable but treatable diseases, and he decided to offer a donation to their neurology and oncology departments. Cuddy not one to give up a donation when they came her way accepted the offer, led him back to her office to finalise the amount he had decided to donate to the hospital.

* * *

House was seated on the wall that separated his balcony from Wilson's, deep in thought though twirling his cane absentmindedly between his fingers. He hadn't seen Alex in a week, and while he knew that something had come up, he could not get the notion out of his head that maybe she had left early that night because she simply did not want to be with him. Well she couldn't be with him because they weren't actually in a relationship, but he had thought, based on her reaction to him, that she had wanted to kiss him just as much as he wanted to kiss her. He shook his head and let out a scoff "Yeah like anyone would want to be with a drug addicted loony tune," he said to himself.

He had made several trips to the rooftop but there was no sign that she had even been there in the past week and House had to admit that he should have known better than to waste his time on trying to find something that was so damn elusive to him. All he wanted was to try and see of he could have a serious relationship with someone that was not Wilson or his mother. They were the only two people who stood by him through everything and he wanted to see if he could develop that type of relationship with someone else, someone that he was not so dependant on. He thought about Cuddy but the memory of her choosing Lucas over him made its way into his mind and he had to remind himself that he had already made the decision to not go down that road again.

The diagnostician was so lost in thought that he did not hear Thirteen as she stepped out of his office and slowly walked over to where he was seated on the wall. His minions were running tests their latest patient, a middle-aged man who had come in complaining of being tired despite sleeping for almost ten hours of the day and sitting on the couch for the rest of the twelve hours while he played and tested out new video games for the company he worked for. While the diagnostician and his team knew there was nothing really wrong with the patient, House had ordered a battery of blood tests, an ECG test, a CT scan of his chest and abdomen and a contrasted MRI study of his brain to simply scare the overweight man into spending less time sleeping and playing games and actually doing a physical activity that would get his heart rate up and his metabolism working.

"The patient's blood tests are all negative, his MRI and CT scans were clear, and his ECG was normal, as we knew it would be. Chase has him running on a treadmill as part of some other test though just to get his heart to start working and his blood to start circulating," she continued when House didn't respond to her news on the patient.

"I heard rumours in the clinic that Cuddy had lunch with a male friend this afternoon," Thirteen informed him and while his facial expression remained unreadable, the green eyed doctor didn't miss the slight clench of his jaw and the way his spine stiffened at the news.

"Yeah it's always nice to know when your boss is going to get laid, it means she'll be in a good mood for at least two days after, when the effects wear off and then she's back to being Ruler of All That Is Evil," he said, trying to keep his tone neutral.

She was about to say something else but the sound of her pager going off distracted her and she ran off as soon as she read that she was needed in the ER. Alone with his thoughts once again, House began to think of what Thirteen had just told him, Cuddy had had lunch with a male friend, the funny thing was that Cuddy didn't have many friends. Wilson was on the list, House had been bumped off, Cameron had left, Foreman was not interested, Thirteen was not the best of friends and Chase was too nice not to be friends with. Other people were simply colleagues or employees, and she had kicked Lucas out a while ago, so it definitely was not the PI. And as much as House wanted to see just who this man was that had got Cuddy's attention, he found that he had something bigger to worry about.

As though she was reading his mind, Alex appeared next to him.

"Hi," she greeted him and House simply nodded his head in acknowledgement of her presence.

When she saw he had no intention of actually talking to her, Alex decided to start talking.

"House, about last week…" she only managed to get that far when he cut her off.

"I'm sure whatever it was, it was more important that what we were doing," he said, not bothering to keep the ice out of his tone.

"Wow talk about being a drama queen," the woman muttered under her breath and despite the anger he felt toward her House found that he could not stop the smile that made its way to his lips at her comment.

With a quick movement of his head he turned to face her and gave her a thorough once-over, taking in as much as he could in that one look. She looked as she always did, neatly dressed in a pair of fitting dark brown pants, a light brown deep cut V necked cashmere jersey that fit her in all the right places and highlighted her curves with a beige coloured crisp dress shirt under it, while her feet were adorned in pointy toed, broad heeled knee-length boots. He was brought out of his stupor when he felt her place a hand on his leg, careful of his thigh though.

"How about I make it up to you? Dinner tomorrow night, I'll cook you something," she offered and House took a minute to consider the offer.

"I don't like anything from a tin, or the premade meals that you simply pop in the microwave and heat and it's ready to eat," he informed her.

I also don't know where you live," he said after a while and this time it was her turn to smile.

With everything she had heard about House through the rumours and sometimes catching parts of his minions' conversations about the enigmatic doctor, she could not believe that he had not already gone through her personnel file and taken all the information he wanted or needed about her.

"I'm not a stalker you know," he said as though he were reading her thoughts.

"I'll take your word for it," she teased.

"Okay seriously, how do I get to your house?' he asked her again.

"I'll see you tomorrow. House," she said before she made her way back into the hospital, leaving him sitting alone on the balcony once again.

He was about to ask her for her home address again, but House found that she had already disappeared back into the maze of the hospital building. Well if she was not going to give it to him and et him come to her, he figured the next best thing was to let her come to him, and there were actually a number of people who knew his address and would not think twice about sharing it with her if it meant more gossip for them in return.

* * *

Dinner had turned out to better that House had actually expected and he found that he had enjoyed himself more in that one evening than he had in a long time. When Alex had told him she would cook him dinner, he had expected something from the store that she would just heat in the microwave or oven and serve him while it was warm and edible. He had certainly not anticipated the grey eyedyoung woman to show up on his doorstep at the loft bearing a cooler box with the food packed neatly inside it. He had helped her set the table, complaining as he did so, and then sat down with her to enjoy the huge meal she had prepared.

Starters had consisted of black mushrooms in garlic sauce which simply melted in his mouth, and haloumi cheese which he was more than reluctant to try, but after a bit of prodding and convincing from her, he sampled and he found that it was not as flavourless as it looked. The main course of a tender chicken breast in lemon and herb marinadefollowed and a dash of Tabasco sauce to give a certain kick followed, and House was impressed by the flavours that danced on his tongue as he ate slowly. He was not shy in taking a second helping and Alex simply laughed at him, knowing House was never one to waste good food, no matter what it was. The atmosphere was light and Alex made sure the conversation never steered too much in one direction.

After dinner was done, Alex made sure House helped her clean up and loaded the dishes into the dishwasher so that he would not have to do it by himself. House then walked to the lounge and took a seat on the sofa as he picked up the remote and flipped channels while he waited for his dinner companion to join him. He finally settled on watching a soap opera that Alex had never heard of let alone watched an episode in her life. House was not impressed and made no secret of showing his disapproval of her not knowing who the characters were or what they were up to. Half an hour later when the inane drama was over, Alex brought out the dessert and she watched as House's eyes lit up. It was like he was a kid in a toy store about to get what he really wanted for Christmas.

She sat down next to him and offered him what looked like a spring roll. House simply glared at her for getting him all excited but took one nonetheless. Alex watched as he bit the thin layer of pastry and then as his eyes widened at the feel of the smooth, warm chocolate that gently oozed into his mouth.

"You are the devil incarnate," he said as soon as his mouth was empty and Alex merely smiled at him, knowing she was not going to get a better compliment from him. House on his part though, didn't waste time in picking up another chocolate parcel and stuffing it into his mouth while Alex watched him with amusement.

It was while he was shoving the third parcel into his mouth that House realised he hadn't offered his dinner companion any dessert and so he held out the half bitten piece in her direction. Alex raised an eyebrow at him in response.

"Oh come on, we both know you want it more than I do," he said causing her to smile and shake her head at his comment.

He was about to hand it to her when an idea struck him and he pulled his hand away from her.

"Close your eyes," he whispered, and while she had absolutely no intention of mentally doing so, her body had already reacted to his voice and she found that her eyes had closed before she could will it to remain open. Alex felt the brush of his finger across her bottom lip and she traced her tongue over his mark, tasting the sweet chocolate he had smeared on her lips.

"No, you don't get to taste until I tell you," he whispered again and this time Alex felt his breath on her neck.

House repeated the process of spreading the chocolate over her liberally painted lips and watched in amusement as she tried not to lick the dessert off her lips.

"Now you can," he informed her but before she could even think about it, she felt House's mouth on hers, his lips softly moulding themselves around hers, caressing them gently. When he didn't feel any protest from her, House snaked his tongue out to the seam of her lips and delicately plied them open. He looped one arm around her upper back while the other planted itself in her hair, making sure she could not pull her mouth away from him, even if she tried, but that was the last thing on the young woman's mind as she kissed him back. Their tongues met and duelled and House had never felt as invigorated as he did the moment her tongue met his. They kissed with abandon, neither of them wanting to stop, but having to do so because of the lack of oxygen in their lungs. House was the first to pull back. his chest still heaving and his eyes dark with passion.

"I should go..." Alex said after she had got her breathing under control and she stood up from her seated position on the couch.

House still too dazed from his kiss merely nodded his head and watched her walk out the apartment, his protest of her leaving dying on his lips. She had almost made it out the door when he managed to say three words to her, "same time tomorrow?" he asked but Alex only shook her head.

"Same time, next week," she informed him before she stepped out of his apartment and into the night…

* * *

They had shared four more weekly lunches together and from her point of view, Cuddy knew she and Joshua were going to be good friends. While she had not told him about her life story or much about her personal life, Cuddy knew that if she ever needed him, Josh would be there for her. He was that type of person. He had come in at least once every week, claiming that he needed to know where and how his donations were being used, but Cuddy knew it was only an excuse to come in and see if he could find the woman he was looking for. She had also kept an eye out but it was like looking for a needle in a haystack, and she had no idea what the woman even looked like. She could have come into contact with Dr Reid so many times and not known it was the woman Josh was looking for.

It was one of the slower days and Cuddy was enjoying another lunch meeting with the blue eyed, dimpled cheeked Josh when she heard his voice over the din of the cafeteria. She immediately felt the tension in her shoulders rise and her spine straighten; knowing she was readying herself for battle.

"Dr Cuddy is in a meeting right now. Would you like me to give her a message?" Cuddy heard Brenda ask him but it was clear Lucas was not ready to accept that it was over between them.

"That does not look like a meeting to me!" came Lucas' reply and she steeled herself as she watched him approach the table she was seated at.

"I want to see her," he demanded and for a moment Cuddy was confused, not knowing what the hell he was talking about.

"She's my kid too you know, I spent at least seven months of my life looking after the little nipper. I should get to see her when I want. Just because were not related by blood or DNA doesn't mean I'm not her dad," he said and that was when Cuddy realised he was talking about Rachel.

Feeling the heat rising in her cheeks, Cuddy could do nothing but sit there and will away the tears that made their way to the corners of her eyes. She had forgotten that Lucas didn't know Rachel's biological father had taken the little girl away and she found that she could not tell him that, even now, because saying it out loud was as good as admitting that she was not going to get her daughter back. She kept her gaze down, knowing that while Josh would not ask her about this, he would still be wondering why she had not told him about Rachel or the man claiming to be her father.

H O U S E M D

House was seated a few booths away from Cuddy, watching her intently as she and her new best friend shared jokes over lunch. He was glad that she was finally making friends and coming to terms with what had happened to her over the last few months. While he had not personally gone to check up on her, he made sure one of his minions were always looking out for her, keeping an eye on her and reporting back to him. There was no way he wanted to experience another episode as he had just after Rachel had been taken from her. Besides he had more important things to worry about, he was hungry and he needed someone to pay for his meal.

He pulled out his cell phone, dialler her number and waited for Alex to answer.

"Reid," she answered, sounding breathless.

"If only I could see the look on your face when you said that the way you did," House greeted her.

"House I'm busy, what do you want?" she huffed.

"I'm hungry I need a loan," she could see the smirk on his face.

Then ask someone else, I don't have time for this right now…"

She sighed in frustration, only House could call her for something so inane.

"Are you going to just sit there and watch him demand something he has no right to?" House turned his gaze to Wilson who was sitting across him and giving him the look that meant he should have been doing something to help their friend.

"Cuddy is a big girl, she can handle it," he said, his tone betraying what he felt.

"I don't think so House. She looks as though she's about to fall apart," Wilson observed and House let out an irritated sigh, knowing the oncologist, he was not going to stop until House went and saved Cuddy from Lucas.

Alex heard Wilson's voice through the receiver and she let out a long, slow breath.

"House, she was there for you when you needed her… don't leave her alone," Alex warned House and he knew just from her tone that she was not joking, there would be a price to pay if he didn't save his friend.

With much effort House stood up and walked over to where Lucas was standing and came to a stop next to Cuddy's chair.

"Is there something I can help you with?" he asked Lucas, his tone indicating this was not a good time.

"I want to see Rachel," Lucas demanded again and House simply smiled.

"Well like the philosopher Jagger always said, you can't always get what you want," he shot back and Lucas didn't seem too impressed.

"You know what, Cuddy doesn't need you to fight her battles for her," Lucas said and this only angered House more. He was not fighting her battles, he was merely trying to get Lucas to leave so that Cuddy would calm down and Alex would stop pestering him.

"Maybe the little nipper had more sense than her mother and doesn't want to see you. She chose quality over quantity," House replied.

The words tumbled out of his mouth before he even realised what he was saying and the looks of absolute shock on both Cuddy and Lucas' faces were enough to confirm that he did actually say that, but it had the desired effect. Lucas took one look around before walking out of the cafeteria and eventually out of the hospital.

Yeah… so much for not getting involved with Cuddy's issues anymore…

* * *

I re read this chapter and tried to fix the missing parts, but as I said in the top A/N the days don't actually follow each other. Sometimes there are few weeks that pass by before a new chapter starts.

Thank you to everyone who read this far and are still interested in this story  
If you guys have any suggestions as to where this story should go please let me know  
I already have the next chapter mapped out in my head, all that needs to be done is typed out.

I also have a new poll at my profile pertaining to new characters in this fic.  
Please take a few minutes to fill it in and let me know who you guys would prefer.

And now, hit the blue button at the bottom of your screen and let me know exactly what you thought of this chapter...


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** See chapter 1

**A/N:** I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, however it is the start to the rest of the fic as you guys will see. One important piece of info regarding this fic: I still haven't seen Help Me, so I will still be following the plot line until before that episode, whuch will help this fic.  
Also I wanted to post it before I go on a month long vacation and not leave you guys hanging…. Thanks to Alix33 who beta read this me. Well hope you guys enjoy reading.

* * *

Four months had passed since the incident with the man child Lucas in the cafeteria and Cuddy was doing better from the looks of it. Wilson had noticed her spending less time holed up within the confines of her office, sometimes even spending an hour or two doing clinic duty. He hoped it was helping her with dealing with the loss of Rachel as well as Lucas. He had also noticed Josh coming in at least four times a week to whisk Cuddy off for lunch. The oncologist smiled to himself as he walked toward Cuddy's office to ask her if she ha time for a quick meeting when he saw Josh enter the Dean's office with a lunch bag a few minutes before he did. The smile she offered Josh was one Wilson hadn't seen in a long time and he decided that his meeting could wait an hour or so.

Cuddy looked up to see who had entered her office without knocking. Her heart had hoped it was House, who had been avoiding her more than she thought was possible and she was not sure whether she was happy or upset about that. At times when House came barrelling into her office she had an idea of what he was up to, but now she had no idea what was going on with him. Granted he had come to her assistance when she had needed him the most, but that did not mean he was not going to move on with his life. She had tried and now, whether she liked it or not, she had to give him the same opportunity.

She managed to offer him a warm smile, which Josh noticed didn't really reach her eyes, but smiled in return anyway.

"Not the person you were expecting?" he asked as he sat down in the chair across hers and placed the small cartons of food on the part of her desk that was not littered with papers.

"Actually no," she admitted, "I thought it was House barging in, ready to ask permission to do some insane, experimental treatment on the patient he and his team are treating."

"Aah I see," Josh said.

"I take it House still hasn't come to see you," Josh noted and Cuddy nodded her head in agreement.

Over the past few months their friendship had grown and despite what her staff and sometimes even the patients and board members thought, neither Josh nor Cuddy were looking for anything more in each other. They were not romantically interested in each other; all they both needed were friends and that was what they were good with. Cuddy had also starting Josh enough to tell him a bit about House and his antics in the workplace but she vowed to not make the same mistake of telling him too much about her personal life and nothing of House's. That was completely House's choice, if he wanted to let anyone know what was going on with him he would tell them himself. She didn't have to worry though because Josh was not the type of person to push her for information, he was happy to get what he was getting.

"What about you? Have you found the doctor you were looking for?" Cuddy asked after a while.

"Nope, but I am not giving up hope just yet. It's like when you're looking for something you can never find it and then when you stop it shows up right in front of you…" and Cuddy had to agree with him.

"That however is not the reason I am here right now. There's this new place that opened up and I had to try the food and I thought who better to share it with than you?" he said as he pulled out the cartons from the bag and laid them out neatly on the table, taking care not to mess any of her papers. Cuddy smiled in appreciation and pulled one of the Styrofoam boxes to her. The smell of the food reminded Cuddy of just how hungry she was and she dug in with gusto. Lunch was a quick affair as Josh had been called back to his office but he made sure to make his next lunch appointment with Cuddy just in case she decided to schedule a meeting during her lunch hour the next day

The next few hours were filled with paperwork and by the time Cuddy looked up she saw that it was already time to head home. With nothing and no one waiting for her at home Cuddy was seriously considering staying in her office to complete the new paperwork that had come in when she saw House looking into her office. Her heart jumped at the sight of him, but she kept her expression as blank as she could not wanting him to see the excitement or relief in her eyes at her finally seeing him after what felt like eons. He looked well, better than she had seen him in a long time and she had to wonder if that was because he had decided to move on with his life – minus her in it.

Before she could give it any further thought House was limping toward her office. She waited for him to swing her doors open in true House fashion but House simply opened it and stepped in carefully.

"Hi," she greeted him uncertainly.

"Hey," he responded, looking slightly nervous.

"You hungry?" he asked her after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, causing Cuddy to look at him confusedly.

"It's a bit late to be making reservations at this hour."

"Hey do you want to eat or not?" he asked her suddenly feeling nervous for no reason.

Taken by surprise, Cuddy nodded her head and told him to wait as she grabbed her coat and bag and followed him out of her office. When she noticed him walking in the direction of his motorcycle, Cuddy stopped him and suggested they take her car as she was not going to ride that death trap with him. Seeing that she did have a point, House nodded his head and they walked to her car. Once they were settled and strapped in House gave Cuddy directions to the restaurant he and Alex had planned to have dinner at before she cancelled on him… The drive to the restaurant was uneventful with each of them lost in their own thoughts of how this evening would go. They hadn't spent time together in a few months and Cuddy was not sure what to expect from House. She knew he had changed since his return from Mayfield but that did not mean he could not go back to being an ass and hurting her all over again.

She parked in a vacant spot in front of the restaurant and waited as House exited the car and followed him as they both made their way into Capello's.

The waiter greeted them as soon as they entered and Cuddy listened as House gave him the details of his reservation.

"Greg House, Dinner reservation at seven thirty for two," he said and the waiter looked through the book, found the reservation and nodded in acknowledgement. They were led to a table in one of the quieter corners of the eating house where the ambiance was more romantic than casual; which Cuddy had noticed when they had walked into the restaurant, and Cuddy had to wonder whether House had intentionally made reservations for them or if he had plans with someone else but he decided at the last minute that he couldn't do it.

An uncomfortable silence settled around them after the waiter had seated them and taken their drinks order which complied of a Coke for House and a still water for Cuddy. Soft music flowed through the speaker system and House was becoming uncomfortable with the mood that was settling on the restaurant.

"This is not a date," he said before he could stop himself though he had to admit he felt the relief sweep through him when he realised what he had said.

"This doesn't seem like a place you would just decide on eating at," Cuddy noted and House had to admit she was not wrong on that point.

"Does it matter where we eat? I mean you're hungry, I'm hungry, this is a nice place," House started but only managed to get that far when he saw the small smile on Cuddy's face.

"What's so funny?" he asked her.

"Nothing, I just missed this… you and I…" she said softly and House knew how that felt, hell he had missed it too but that was a long time ago and he was trying for a relationship with Alex and that was the only reason he was here with Cuddy. "Don't you miss us?" She asked him and House looked at her, unable to answer her question.

He was saved from saying anything when the waiter arrived to take their main course order. After that the tension seemed to ease a bit and House took some of the advice Alex had given him. They had spoken about Rachel and how the little rug rat was doing, whether Cuddy thought the kid's dad was going to give her back to Cuddy, Wilson and Sam and how annoying they both found Wilson's were so caught up in conversation that neither of them felt the time rushing by until the waiter came up to ask them if they wanted dessert. Knowing exactly what Cuddy would not want House didn't bother asking for the menu and instead placed the order for her. They both stayed clear off the topic of Lucas though, neither of them wanting to think of the man who had ultimately ruined their lives by trying to one-up House and using Cuddy as a pawn in his game. Mentions of Stacy came up too but Cuddy didn't venture into too much detail about the Southern lawyer knowing how much House loved to keep his private life just that – private.

The waiter arrived shortly after with a piece of pecan nut pie something Cuddy was not too familiar with but House had enjoyed thoroughly when Alex had bribed him into tasting it.

Cuddy eyed the dessert warily but House was quick to reassure her that she would be wanting more by the time she had finished the first slice. She forked a small piece and took a tiny bite just to see and found that she actually liked it.

"So," Cuddy said as she forked another small piece into her mouth, "how did we really end up eating here? Surely you would not have picked a place like this."

"That's because I didn't decide, I had a dinner date tonight but she cancelled on me at the last minute and well it seemed a bit unfair to let the reservation go since it took her at least three months to get it," House admitted. With that statement Cuddy felt as though the wind had been knocked out of her. Her assumptions were correct, House was seeing someone, he was moving on - without her and now she knew what he had felt like all that time she had been with Lucas and Lucas had been rubbing it in House's face at every opportunity he got.

"I should go. It's getting late and I have an early morning meeting with the board," Cuddy lied. She just needed to get out of there as soon as she could but House saw through the lie as soon as the words tumbled out of her mouth.

"You haven't finished your dessert yet, and don't waste it cause I'm paying for it," House protested but Cuddy had already stood up and was walking out of the restaurant.

House stood up and followed her until she came to a stop next to her Lexus. He grabbed her wrist before she could take get in and pulled her to him wrapping an arm around her upper back and securing her chest to his. He waited until she had calmed down enough before he loosened his grip on her.

"I'm not going anywhere Cuddy," he whispered into her hair.

Cuddy tilted her head up so she could get a better look at House and found that her lips were inches away from his. All she had to do was stretch slightly and she could be kissing him the way she wanted to. The thought was barely out of her head when she felt her lips sliding over his, feeling, tasting, exploring… One of her hands tangled themselves in his hair while the other looped around the back of his neck pulling him closer to her. She felt him deepen the kiss and opened her mouth when she felt him run his tongue over the seam of his lips, asking her for permission…

The sound of someone clearing their throat jolted them out of their cocoon and Cuddy tensed when she saw Lucas standing next to them, a young blonde woman on his arm.

0 o 0 o 0

Tonight was going to be their five month anniversary dinner and House wanted to make it a special one. None of his relationships, other than Stacy, had lasted more than a week, and frankly he thought it was a cause for celebration. He and Alex had managed to keep their budding relationship under wraps at the hospital – which in itself was a feat considering the gossipmongersthat worked there. Also he hadn't thought it would actually last this long because he was bound to screw things up at some point or another. House placed his thinky ball back onto its place and reached for the telephone next to the ball stand.

He had made reservations at Capello's; a restaurant Alex had mentioned once or twice, which had cost him a diagnosis of the common cold over the phone. He was going to surprise her with a romantic dinner for two, even though he knew she was not one for romance and the likes, if anything he knew she would have loved sitting in his apartment watching reruns of crime shows and eating popcorn just as much. With Alex it was not about what he remembered, it was that he was there with her. He was about to call and tell her about the reservations when she walked into his office, and MRI image in her hand.

"Hey I know you wanted to do something tonight, but something's come up and I can't make it," Alex said before House could even say anything.

"I made reservations already," he informed her and Alex felt guilty knowing just how much this milestone meant to House.

"Invite Cuddy out for dinner then. That way you get to keep your reservation and you get to spend some time with her to see how she's doing and you don't have to rely on your minions to report to you."

He was about to protest when about to protest when another idea entered his head, "Fine, I'll ask Cuddy to dinner tonight – under one condition – I get to see you twice a week for date night," he finished and Alex nodded her head.

"Okay, I have no issues with that," she informed him, "as long as it doesn't interfere with poker Tuesdays and bowling with Wilson on Fridays.

He was about to protest but thought the better of it, he knew Alex would just set down more rules for them, and he had no intention of giving her a head start on it. Still he did think that her idea of them seeing each other only one night a week was insane, especially since they were both adults and they were both trying for a relationship with each other. They had decided on Saturday nights because House had poker with the guys on Tuesdays, bowling with Wilson and sometimes Chase on Fridays while Alex had other commitments for Mondays and Thursdays. That meant he got to see her smack bang in the middle of the week, but he was not complaining… it was a few more hours a week that he could spend with her.

With that thought in mind House gathered up his things and exited his office, his mind already coming up with ways in which he could ask Cuddy out for dinner without making it seem like he was interested in being more than friends with her. He had tried that for an entire year and it didn't do him any good so he was not about to start now. He came to a stop in the clinic and looked into Cuddy's office. She was still in there and it looked as though she was debating something really serious. Well whatever it was, it could wait while he asked her if he was available to have dinner with him – just as friends.

It didn't take him long to persuade her to join him, knowing that she had nothing to go home to. Dinner had been a relaxed and easy affair and House was starting to feel like maybe things could go back to the way they were. For the most part he had answered all Cuddy's questions though he made it abundantly clear that Lucas and Stacy were not topics he was willing to discuss. Everything else though was fair game…

It was while Cuddy was eating dessert she had brought up his reason for coming to this specific eating house. Granted he was not one who actually came to places like this, so he guessed it would have confused anyone who knew him as well as she did.

"So," Cuddy said as she forked another small piece into her mouth, "how did we really end up eating here? Surely you would not have picked a place like this."

"That's because I didn't decide, I had a dinner date tonight but she cancelled on me at the last minute and well it seemed a bit unfair to let the reservation go since it took her at least three months to get it," House admitted. He watched her face for her reaction, though she masked it well within a few seconds. He didn't want to hurt Cuddy by telling her that he was seeing someone, but he also knew the pain of being left in the dark for so long.

"I should go. It's getting late and I have an early morning meeting with the board," Cuddy lied but House saw through it immediately. He knew Cuddy better than she knew herself.

"You haven't finished your dessert yet, and don't waste it cause I'm paying for it," House protested but Cuddy had already stood up and was walking out of the restaurant.

House stood up and followed her until she came to a stop next to her Lexus. He grabbed her wrist before she could take get in and pulled her to him wrapping an arm around her upper back and securing her chest to his. He waited until she had calmed down enough before he loosened his grip on her.

"I'm not going anywhere Cuddy," he whispered into her hair.

Cuddy tilted her head up so she could get a better look at House and found that her lips were inches away from his. House felt himself being drawn by her slate grey orbs and before he could stop himself he was leaning down and kissing Lisa Cuddy as though he would never get another chance.

The sound of someone clearing their throat jolted them out of their cocoon and Cuddy tensed when she saw Lucas standing next to them, a young blonde woman on his arm.

"I see you haven't wasted time in bedding Cuddy. Then again I shouldn't be surprised since you like second-hand things," Lucas said in a scathing tone but House kept his arms pinned to his sides. Lucas was so not worth the effort and pain… "And well Cuddy has no idea of what's good for her, so I guess that's what makes you guys such a great couple…

Lucas continued throwing insults House's way but he resisted the urge to punch the man child. Instead he guided Cuddy into her car before he set out in search of the nearest bar…

0 o 0 o 0

By the time Alex reached home her roommate and friend was already home. Granted Carly was not one of her best friends, neither was she one of Alex's closest friends but she had been there for Alex when her she had left home and Carly had sort of adopted Alex in a younger sister sort of way. They had more ups than downs on most days, sometimes making the radiologist think twice about trusting Carly but she knew that Carly was only doing what was in Alex's best interest though she didn't always see it that way but Alex would not trade her for the world. The brunette woman had managed to place her keys on the table in the living room when she heard his voice.

"Well it's about time. I've been waiting at least three hours now," Rick griped as soon as he saw her.

"Too bad, my life doesn't revolve around you," Alex replied a small smile accompanying her greeting; "otherwise you'd wait forever."

He was used to Alex's sense of humour, which could at times rub people the wrong way. He had had six years of practice of getting used to her. Their four years at med school and few years as doctors in training had kept him on his toes when she was around. Rick had turned out to be the older brother she never had. His dark brown eyes, spiked hair and wide, warm smile had drew her to him the first day she had met him and he had not missed his chance to get to know her better. He had been drawn in by her loud, in your face attitude, and her kind heart. There were other girls he had come across but none of them could hold up a conversation as well as she did without blushing when he had complimented them.

"You haven't come to see me in three years."

"Yeah, I didn't feel the insistent need to ask you for your opinion of something I had to figure out on my own. And judging from the lack of concern in your voice I can safely assume that you got all my information and stats anyway," Alex said, fixing Carly with a pointed stare. She didn't have to guess that her roommate would call Rick if Alex as much as sneezed when she didn't have a cold.

"That's because we're worried about you Alex," Rick defended but Alex was not in the mood for it.

"And who do you mean by we because the only people in this room are you, Carly and I and since Carly sees me every day and you get the daily status updates, I can once again safely assume that you're talking about my family," it was evident from her tone that the radiologist was not impressed at all.

"They have a right to know how their kid is doing."

"Then they should have taken more of an interest in her life when she was actually around and not when she wants nothing to do with them," Alex shot back.

"You barely gave them a chance to explain themselves before you stormed out of their lives almost nine years ago. Can you, for one second, just imagine what was going through their minds when they saw you walking out with no intention of ever returning home? Can you imagine the feeling they go to sleep with every night knowing that their daughter is out here, so damn close to them but they don't have permission to come and see her?"

"If it escaped your memory I was not the one to make the decision to leave home, that one was made for me without even consulting me."

"People say things in anger, that does not mean you have to take it literally," Rick tried to convince Alex but she was having none of it, she had made her choice and she was sticking to it.

"Look if you feel so much for my damn parents then please, by all means go ahead and see them, let them know I am still alive and kicking but do not tell me I made the wrong decision because I was doing what was best for me for once and you can't fault me for that." She knew that taking her anger out on Rick was not the best thing to do, but she was angry and he was the best target she had.

"When are you going to realise that we're not trying to fight you, we're trying to help you?" Rick asked her.

"It's a bit too late for that now, Rick. I've made my decisions and I'm happy with them, so if you don't like them too bad, you're just going to have to deal with it. I have a new life now, one that's less complicated without my family in it, one where I have people who actually like me for who I am. I don't have to keep up a façade so that their parents won't get offended when I say anything they disagree with."

"Alex, you haven't been home in a decade," Rick started but stopped when he saw the glare Alex had fixed him with.

"Are you seeing anyone?" Rick asked before he could stop himself.

"That is none of your damn business," Alex informed him none too politely. Rick was not at the top of the list of letting people know she was in an actual relationship.

"I'm happy so let's just leave it to that," she said after a short silence.

"Oh please you are so far deep in self-pity and loathing that the only man you could get to date you is a drug addicted, mentally unstable doctor. I never thought you would be that desperate," Carly said, not even trying to filter the words coming out of her mouth.

You have no idea what House is all about, all you know is what the people are saying about him and I can guarantee you they're all rumours. No one has a fucking clue as to who the real Gregory House is. All you see is the world renowned, insanely rude, arrogant yet brilliant genius of a man, none of you decided to look further than your fucking noses to see what Greg the human being is all about. And for that I feel sorry for you because you don't know what a great guy he really is," Alex's voice rose with every word she spoke and by the time she was done total silence had befallen the room.

The sound of knocking on the wooden door brought the heated argument to a stop for a few minutes as Carly walked over to answer it. She pulled the door open with more force than was necessary but was somewhat not surprised to see the lanky man standing on the other side of the threshold.

"Wow! Talk of the devil and he will appear," she said in a scathing tone and Alex didn't have to look or guess to know who it was.

House had come over despite her asking him not to visit her tonight. She knew of Carly's dislike of the diagnostician though she didn't know the reason for it, and now that Rick was here she would no doubt convince him that House was not a good person to be around. Not wanting her roommate to start yelling at House while he was still in the hallway, as Carly was prone to doing; Alex walked over to where he was standing and invited him in. She did not miss the stench of alcohol that followed him in, or the slight balance problem he was having due to his drinking episode or even his bloodshot, pain filled eyes that she was sure were alight and dancing with happiness a few hours ago. She had no idea what had driven him to the bar on a late week night, but whatever it was, she was almost certain it had to do with one Dr Lisa Cuddy

He entered the apartment shooting a glare in Carly's direction, which she returned as a sign of greeting and then he noticed the dark haired man seated on the single seater sofa in the living room.

"And this is the infamous Dr Gregory House I was telling you about," Carly started again, picking up the argument where it had stopped when House had knocked on the apartment door thus interrupting the heated difference of opinions. Rick looked up at House, his expression one of thorough confusion. Surely this drunk of a man could not have been the world renowned Board Certified Diagnostician with a double speciality in Nephrology and Infectious Disease.

"There's no reason for you to do a double take, Rick, this is definitely the world famous Dr House. It's amazing what killing your best friend's girlfriend and spending time at a mental institution can do for you hey? You become a bit more famous and the women come lining up for a piece of you hoping that they'd be the one you choose to help you through your rough times," Carly continued but Alex had heard enough. She had expected House to have a comeback ready for Carly, but when Alex looked at the man, all she saw was the defeated expression on his face and the lost look in his eyes. It was more than she could handle and while she, Carly and Rick had been friends for a long time, she didn't feel the need to be polite to them while Carly abused House in her presence.

Without warning Alex turned to face the other woman and commanded her to get out of the apartment. She didn't bother listening to the excuse that it was a shared apartment, all Alex wanted was for them to leave so she could tend to House and see what the hell had happened for him to resort to the bottle to escape his problems. When Carly showed no signs of leaving Alex stood up and grabbed a fist full of her friend's T-shirt and gave her a glare that would have made anyone want to disappear into a hole in the ground. She was not above using force if she had to, to get what she wanted. Carly was about to protest again but Rick knew what would happen if Alex lost her temper and so he convinced Carly to leave the apartment and come back when Alex was all calmed down.

As soon as the other two were out of the apartment Alex turned her attention to House and was not surprised to find him seated exactly where she had left him. She slowly walked over to where he was seated and held out her hand in his direction. It was a few minutes before he responded by placing his hand in hers and allowing himself to be led by her to the bedroom. If this had been a normal day he would have been ecstatic to be led by her to her bedroom, but it was not and House didn't even seem to register what she was doing. Alex finally came to a stop at the edge of the bed guided him to sit down on the edge, which he did and then seated herself down next to him, still holding his hands in hers.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked him but House merely shook his head. They sat in silence for a long while, Alex not wanting to pressure House into telling her anything he didn't want to. After what seemed like forever House lifted his head to look at her and she found her gaze pinned by his. He slowly raised their hands until he could place one of her palms flat against his heart.

"Do you think I'm a cold-hearted bastard?" he asked softly.

"No," there was no doubt or hesitation in her voice, if anything Alex knew him better than maybe even Wilson.

"Do you think I'm good enough for you?" he asked after a while, his gaze honest and open, "because your friends don't seem to think I am," he observed and Alex felt the urge to beat the crap out of Carly for contributing to making House feel the way he did.

"My friend's are idiots, they wouldn't know the best thing if it walked up to them and introduced itself to them,"she replied, a small smile gracing her lips.

"That doesn't change the fact they could be correct in thinking I'm all wrong for you; or anyone in general for that matter. I mean we all know I am not long term relationship material," he continued.

"Well I think the fact that I am here having this conversation with you defies that perception, because if you weren't relationship material it wouldn't be bothering you so much. And besides, their opinions of you don't matter because ultimately the choice of being with you is not theirs it's mine and I am choosing to be with you," Alex assured him.

"Now I want you to relax while I go and get you a mug of strong coffee to help with the hangover we both know is going to kill you in the morning," she informed him as she stood up from the bed and took the first step toward the door.

She had barely taken the second step when she felt House's hand curl around her wrist and she turned to look at him. He didn't bother gracing her with an answer; instead he tugged harder on her hand causing her to crash into him as he sat on the edge of the mattress. He wrapped his arms around her back as leaned back into the mattress, tugging her along with him so that she was now lying chest to chest on him. Making sure she had no way of escape House rolled over so that he was now on top of her pinning her under his larger frame. Without wasting another second House fused his mouth to hers in searing kiss, and Alex found herself responding to his assault on her mouth. It was a matter of seconds before they were both naked and moving in sync with each other, their breaths rapid and shallow. Alex had never felt as alive as she had at that moment, House had awakened a side of her she had clearly long forgotten about and she didn't stop herself from whispering his name when she reached her state of total bliss.

House followed a few seconds later and that was when Alex's world came crashing down around her. She didn't miss the name that tumbled from his lips as he climaxed, how could she possibly compare to Cuddy? Exhausted from their little adventure House fell asleep unaware of the turmoil he had caused his bed mate.

Bright moonlight filtered through the curtains and woke the diagnostician in the process. He stretched out his arms and legs while he lay in bed and cracked one eye open. Everything looked different; this looked nothing like his apartment or the apartment he had shared with Wilson for a short time. He found that he didn't recognise the bedroom and he was starting to panic, thinking he had once again found the wrong bed to sleep in. He looked around and stilled when he saw Alex sleeping next to him, her eyes screwed shut against the light coming in. The sight of her lying next to him triggered his memory and suddenly images of the previous night made their way unbidden into his mind…

His dinner with Cuddy, the confrontation with Lucas – who seemed hell-benton informing House and the rest of the restaurant patrons that House was a former drug addict who was infatuated with his boss but would never get anywhere with her because she was way out of his league, the short trip to the bottle store and then to Alex's apartment. Images of Alex arguing with two of her friends, her defending House as he stood in her living room and then of him kissing the life out of her after she had kicked them out. The one that gutted him the most though was when he realised that he had yelled out Cuddy's name as he made love to another woman and while House knew Alex would understand it would also still sting every time she remembered or thought of it.

"Would you stop thinking already? I can hear the wheels turning in your head," he heard Alex whisper a few seconds later.

So much for House thinking she was asleep, because then at least he would have had a bit of time to think about why he had uttered Cuddy's name instead of Alex's.

"Alex," he started but he found that he could not finish the sentence because really, how did you apologise for taking another woman's name in bed? House knew it was not intentional but that did not mean it was okay. If the roles had been reversed and if it had been Alex who had yelled out the name of another man when it was House she was sleeping with he would have been upset and jealous. Sure he would not have said anything about it to anyone, but hell it would have angered and upset him and it would have worked in his nerves until he could no longer take it and that was when the shot would hit the fan, so to speak.

The sound of her soft voice startled him slightly and House furrowed his brows in response.

"Stop thinking about it, because really it's not important," she whispered. Though she hadn't specifically mentioned it, they both knew what she was referring to and while House wanted to believe her, he found that he simply could not. It was important to him, because he was trying for a relationship here with her and uttering Cuddy's name while in the throes of passion with another woman was certainly not a step in the right direction… not by a long shot.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt Alex's hand cup his cheek and ran the pad of her thumb over his five o' clock shadow. House turned his head so that he was facing her and Alex saw the guilt, hurt and pain in his innocent blue orbs. And as much as she knew she could tell him that it really was not a big deal, she knew House would not believe a word that came out of her mouth, but she had to at least try and convince him that she was not about to throw him out for his actions.

Alex moved closer to him wanting to close both the physical and metaphorical distance between them, but she had to do it in a way that would not send him running for the fields or making him feel any guiltier than she knew he already was feeling. Without waiting for him to say anything, Alex began talking.

"Greg," her use of his first name caught his attention as she never really used it unless she was about to say something very serious.

"I do not regret what happened last night. Granted it was not the best way to start the physical side of our relationship; we were both vulnerable and hurting and one thing led to another, but I wouldn't change it for anything in the world. I haven't felt the way you made me feel in years and I am not about to let go of the one good thing that's come my way in a long time because of something that doesn't even matter," Alex continued in a hushed tone, still rubbing the pad of her thumb over his stubbled cheek.

"I know what's running through your head at this moment; that I am going to leave you because you yelled Cuddy's name instead of mine, but I am not. I'm also not going to lie to you and say that it doesn't sting, because yes it does, it stings a lot, but believe me when I say I can understand where you're coming from. Cuddy has been a part of your life for so long, that you find it hard to imagine it without her and rightly so. She has been a part of your life for the last two decades and she's been there for you every step of the way, through everything good and bad and forgetting about her is not going to happen overnight because these things take time, and I am not expecting you to do so either.

She moved her hand from his cheek to his jaw and down his neck and chest until she reached the place she knew his heart was. With slow, cautious movements she ran her index finger lightly across his left pectoral muscle feeling the rhythm of his heart as it beat beneath his ribcage.

"But," House said but he only managed to get that far when Alex began talking again.

"There is one thing I want you to promise me though, and I won't take no for an answer," Alex said after a few minutes of complete silence.

"If you are ever faced with the decision of choosing between one of us, I want you to choose her, without any questions or doubts. Promise me you would do that for me," she asked him and House found himself nodding his head in agreement despite the fact that his mind was fighting her decision with every ounce of energy it had. Yes he and Cuddy had been friends for a very long time but what Alex was asking him to do was ridiculous if not insane. Besides, what made her think that he would ever be in that situation? But he really did not want to start this side of their relationship with a fight with Alex so he agreed with her. He would placate her now, but when he got the opportunity again he would definitely bring this subject up again and he would make it known that he was not okay with her request.

"Thank you," she whispered when he agreed with her request.

She leaned up to kiss the side of his mouth but House chose that moment to turn his head and instead Alex felt her lips softly brushing his. House instinctively tangled his hand in her long, dark tresses as he slid his mouth over his in a long, passion filled kiss that stole her breath away from her. He ran his hands over the warm skin of her back and sides. Within seconds he was so caught up in their kiss he hadn't realised they had repositioned their bodies and that his larger body had now pinned her smaller, petite one to the mattress under him. Alex ran her hands over his flesh too, taking in every bump and curve of his body, hoping she would remember the sensitive spots on his body the next time they did this.

House could feel the muscles in his back tensing. He didn't want to repeat the mistake he had made earlier that evening. He really was interested in trying to have a relationship with Alex, and he didn't want Cuddy to be a part of it, not until he was completely sure that there was no way he could screw it up with Alex. She could feel him holding back and while he didn't say anything Alex knew why he was doing so.

"You need to relax House. Let your mind wander, think of the things that make you happy," she whispered into his ear trying not to break the spell they were enclosed in. House followed her advice and for a fleeting moment emptied his mind and that was the moment of pure bliss for him, and he found himself moaning out Alex's name in pure passion…

A few hours later, House stood up from his seated position on the bed and scrubbed a hand down his face. His head was pounding and there was a dull throb in his thigh, though it was nothing he couldn't manage. He lifted his jeans and boxers from the floor and put them on before he took his first uneasy step toward the door. The sound of voices coming from the one of the other rooms filtered through to the bedroom he was still in and House had to concentrate a bit to see if he could make out the voices. One definitely belonged to Alex and she was talking but House has yet to hear who it was she was talking to. He reached the bathroom a few steps later and House stepped inside and closed the door softly behind him, not wanting to startle Alex and whoever else was in the apartment. After splashing cold water onto his face and brushing his teeth as best as he could without the aid of a toothbrush, the blue eyed diagnostician limped out of the bathroom and slowly walked to the kitchen, silently wishing that there was a mug of strong, steaming coffee waiting for him.

"Hey sweetheart, look who decided to join us for breakfast!" Alex said as House appeared in the doorway dressed only in his jeans.

The lanky diagnostician looked up at the sound of his name and smiled uncertainly when he saw Alex looking directly at him, a small grin plastered on her face. He slowly walked to where she was standing at the island and accepted the mug of coffee she held in his direction, still looking around to see who the blue eyed woman was speaking to as he had yet to see another person in the kitchen. As he neared her, House felt the need to bear hug Alex, he knew it was not as good as an apology for what had happened last night, but hell it was worth a try. He had barely managed to warp his arms around her when he froze in his spot. Staring back at him were the most intense brown eyes he had seen in a long time, and it took his a brain a few long seconds to process the information it had just been sent. Surely he could have been mistaken, but House knew in his gut that there was a less than 99.9 percent chance that he was wrong; because there was simply no way he would not be able to recognise Lisa Cuddy's spawn…

* * *

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Let me know what you guys want to see in the next chapter….

Until next time

D CSI


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